The sun was up, the breeze was cool and crisp, and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. In other words, it was a typical day in Canterlot City. And it was a typical day for the Equestria Girls too. And Twilight Sparkle was just heading over to Sunset’s place.
Just then, Rainbow Dash zipped toward Twilight on her skateboard screeching to a halt in front of the bookworm. She kicked up the board and caught it in her hand, smirking at Twilight.
“What’s up, Twi?” She greeted.
“Not much Rainbow,” Twilight responded. “Just heading to Sunset’s place.
“Yeah, I know. She already invited the rest of the girls and they all said they were coming. Why don’t you?”
Twilight pondered for a moment before she smiled. “I’ll see you later tonight, Rainbow.”
Rainbow smiled wide, giving Twilight a pat on the shoulder.
“Awesome! You won’t regret this!”
Rainbow threw her skateboard back on the ground, skating off at super-sonic speed to Sunset’s. Twilight shook her head, smiling while looking after her rainbow-haired friend.
“Looks like somebody’s going out tonight,” Spike smiled, popping out of Twilight’s backpack.
Twilight turned her head, giving the little puppy a scratch behind the ears while smiling.
“Yes, Spike. I suppose we are.”
Spike ducks back into her backpack, as Twilight starts walking toward home. Tonight, she planned to have the most amazing time with the best group of friends a girl could ever ask for.
The sky shined with a colorful blend of red, orange, and yellow haze as it set over the horizon. Twilight approached the front door of Sunset’s house. Spike was tagging along behind her, as Twilight smiled down at him before knocking on the door. The door itself quickly flung open, as Twilight felt herself yanked inside and wrapped in a bone-crushing hug. The one delivering this hug was none other than her energetic, party-loving, pink friend, Pinkie Pie.
“Yippee!” Pinkie cheered, excitedly. “I’m so happy you made it, Twilight!”
“P-P-Pinkie!” Twilight wheezed. “Can’t b-breath!”
“Ooopsie!”
Pinkie immediately released Twilight, the lavender girl breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Thankfully she didn’t have any cracked ribs, which would sometimes happen whenever Pinkie hugs people.
“Sorry Twilight,” Pinkie apologized.
“It’s okay, Pinkie,” Twilight gasped. “I’ll live.”
It was then the rest of Twilight’s friends made their way into the main hall to meet their friend. Rainbow Dash came first, followed closely by Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
“Ya’ll went and overdid the hug again, didn’t yah Pinkie?” Applejack asked.
“I said I was super-duper-mega-mondo sorry,” Pinkie said. “It’s just I always get excited whenever we get a chance to spend time together.”
As Pinkie Pie rambled on, Twilight took the opportunity to greet and hug the rest of her friends.
“It is mighty nice ya’ll could come, Twilight,” Applejack smiled, mid-hug.
“Oh yes, darling,” Rarity nodded. “It would have been simply dreadful if you weren’t able to join us.”
“We can always count on you to spend time with us, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, softly.
“Yeah, but where’s Sunset?” asked a confused Twilight.
“Oh, she's in the basement working on your project,” Fluttershy explained.
“So, I've noticed!” Twilight chuckled.
“Could you and I go check it out?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight smiled. “I don't see why not! Let's go!”
As they walked into the basement, Twilight guided Fluttershy to where Sunset’s invention was. It seemed she was the only one who had seen it before. When they rounded a corner, they saw a machine that looked like it could have been designed by Albert Einstein himself.
“Woah! What is this?” Fluttershy was awed, her voice echoing through the chamber. Sunset perked up at the sound of Fluttershy’s voice. She turned around to see her and Twilight just standing there looking at the machine. Then she looked at Twilight who gave a look that said, ‘She was curious, so I had to show her.’
“You guys are just in time! I’m just finishing up! I was going to come get you guys!” Sunset revealed.
"Just in time for what?" Fluttershy asked as she walked over to the machine, curious about what it was. It did intrigue her; she had never seen anything like this machine before in her life.
“For the first test run! I finished it!” the bacon-haired girl exclaimed.
“Woah, already?!?" Twilight asked Sunset. Her friend simply nodded, a wide grin on her face.
“What does it do?” Fluttershy questioned, voicing her thoughts.
Twilight looked at Sunset, inviting her to do the honors of explaining the device's function. “It’s a device that manipulates quantum fields to branch into metaphysical realms. Our goal is to create a stable bridge.”
Twilight glanced around at Fluttershy’s confused face, knowing she would need to give a clearer explanation. One that didn’t use nearly as many big words. “What I’m trying to say I have been working on these past few months is a new invention incorporating that technology that should be able to let us go to brand new universes!”
Twilight gasped. “So, it’s like an interdimensional portal?”
“Not exactly a portal,” Sunset corrected. “The closest word I can think of is a bridge of sorts, letting stuff go from one universe to another. It connects theoretical worlds to our world, or what would be known as the ‘real world.’ As a test run, I’m going to try to bring something from an alternate reality to the real world!”
“Wow, really?!” Twilight gasped in excitement.
Sunset nodded before she pressed a button on the machine to demonstrate. As it whirred to life, the trio took a step back. A glow emitted from the machine, and Fluttershy, who was standing near the machine, felt her fur start to stand on end.
“Um, girls…? Is it supposed to be doing this?” the animal enthusiast questioned.
By then the others’ hair had also started to stand on end. Twilight, standing next to the control panel, was most affected by the static charge building up. “No, I don’t think so?” Twilight replied, somewhat uncertain. “I’m not entirely sure, though. It might- AAAHH!” Suddenly a bolt of lightning arced through the air in front of her face. “IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!!!” the girl in glasses yelped as she stumbled over her feet backward.
“Girls! Get back!” Sunset shouted as she pointed to shelter behind a nearby crate as more electricity filled the air. Twilight and Fluttershy raced behind the crate to escape any possible lightning bolts. Sunset knew she wouldn’t fit, so she ducked behind a metal storage rack. While it wasn’t as good as a wooden crate, which couldn’t conduct electricity, it offered some minimal shelter. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst. Then, unexpectedly, everything quieted down.
After a moment, Sunset spoke. “I’m going to come out now and check on things. Stay where you are, just in case.” Then he stepped out from behind the shelf.
The machine looked normal. It hadn’t exploded like he expected. The teenager crept forward, noting that nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. She tentatively opened the transportation compartment of the machine to see if it had worked.
Nothing.
It was empty. Sunset sighed, disappointed, but still glad nothing had been destroyed. “Alright, Twilight. You and Fluttershy can come out now. It’s fine.”
No answer.
“You can come out now guys. Hello? Guys?” As Sunset rounded around the crate, her face paled. The two girls were gone.
“Girls…? Where’d you go…?”
No answer again but Sunset couldn't accept that two of her friends were gone so she began to look around for them. "Okay, girls! Now is not the time to play games, especially those that aren't funny!!!" Sunset exclaimed as she looked around.
Even though, deep down, Sunset had figured it out long ago, the teenager remained in denial. Sunset continued to search, especially near the machine. Whatever had happened to them, and wherever they had gone, she knew they would be in trouble.
As tears started to run down her face, Sunset could only mutter one thing before she felt like her whole world just collapsed in front of her. What had started as a typical day had just turned into a nightmare.
“Where did you girls go…?”
{play this for nostalgic feels}
Author's Note
Well, looks like Sunset’s invention had a very huge flaw with it. And so, Fluttershy and Twilight’s prehistoric safari had just begun! See you on January 10th, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
I am zoologist and adventurer, Nigel Marven. For years, I’ve crisscrossed the globe in search of the most dangerous animals alive today. But just imagine a prehistoric safari. My dream is to meet the largest and most extraordinary creatures that have ever lived…
To travel back in time…and Walk with Dinosaurs!
Mongolia, 70 million years ago…
These primeval Asian deserts are an inhospitable landscape. In the height of summer, temperatures can soar above 60 degrees Celsius... and water evaporates in an instant. And even if some animals were well adapted to desert conditions, their survival here is often on a knife's edge.
But one man and a film crew have decided to make camp here in the dunes of the Mongolian desert. That man was wildlife adventurer and naturalist, Nigel Marven.
So, this was the start of my prehistoric safari, my adventure into the world of dinosaurs. But I wasn't just here to sightsee. I had a mystery to solve.
Inside his tent, he had a small dinosaur claw in his hand. "Look at this. This is the claw of Tyrannosaurus rex, the most notorious flesh-eater ever known." The English naturalist explained to the cameraman as he handled the Tyrannosaurus claw.
“So, if this is the claw of T-rex, what… is this?" Nigel said as he pulled out a massive claw. "A 28-inch claw. When it was first discovered by paleontologists in the 1950s, it was so extraordinary, they thought it was the rib of a giant turtle.”
“But later, it was found to have been attached to ten-foot arms, the longest arms of any creature ever found." He told the cameraman. "And paleontologists called the creature Therizinosaurus, or the ‘scythe reptile’—."
Suddenly, a light tremor beneath him made him stop speaking momentarily. As he looked around, he barely caught a silhouetted flash of blinding white light across his eyes, and the light disappeared as quickly as it came. His curiosity getting the best of him, Nigel zipped the tent open to investigate. But as he peeked his head out, a look of shock and confusion formed along his face at the most unusual sight.
There, sprawled along the desert floor, were a pair of young girls, probably high school teenagers, lying unconscious. They were the strangest looking girls the Englishman had ever seen, both with colorful hair and their skin tone having a strange colorful pigment. Regardless of their appearance, they appeared to need help as Nigel exited the tent, and headed in their direction, before kneeling beside them.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” He asked.
But no response came from either girl. Knowing these two could either die of heat stroke from the desert temperatures or be mistakenly scavenged on by predators, Nigel did the best thing he could do and with the help of the cameraman, the girls were taken inside the tent.
Soon it was a waiting game for them to wake up. Within an hour, the violet-skinned girl stirred and slowly moved, as Nigel breathed a sigh of relief knowing she was okay. He helped the girl sit up slowly, as her eyes opened and her vision steadily returned. Once she saw the unknown man holding her, naturally her first response was to back away as far as she could against the tent. Nigel held up his hands defensively, showing he meant no harm.
“Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy now,” he said, quickly.
The violet girl quickly searches her surroundings and then turns to her friend lying on the ground. She quickly shakes her violently, desperately trying to wake her up.
“Fluttershy, wake up! Wake up!” Twilight shouted, loudly.
The second girl too began to stir, waking from her unconscious state. As she slowly came to, she too searched her surroundings before acknowledging the man beside her. The yellow-skinned girl hid her face in her long pink hair, letting out a squeak of fear as she did so.
“T-T-Twilight, I-I’m s-scared!” Fluttershy whimpered.
“Who are you?” Twilight asked Nigel, fearfully.
Before Nigel could even respond, a loud bellowing trumpet was heard, and the tent immediately caved in on the trio.
“Hey!” shouted Nigel in surprise. “What the heck was that?!”
Soon, the trio got out of the trashed tent and saw the culprit leaving to join its herd.
The beast and its companions were enormous and were sandy gold in color, with darker brown stripes on their flanks and tails. But the most striking feature of their appearance was the beak that hardly resembled a duck’s bill.
Twilight’s mind felt like it was about to implode. Before them was a herd of hadrosaurs, dinosaurs!! The behavior of the herd was too fluid for any kind of puppetry — these were real animals!
She was equally worried about her friend and wondered how she was taking it.
"Fluttershy...are you seeing...what I’m seeing?" she gasped, looking at her friend next to her.
The animal enthusiast eyed her with disbelief and plain shock. No other words would describe her reactions in this state, for those would be the most accurate. "You mean those dinosaurs? Then yes…”
"Okay good. I'm not going crazy," Twilight said, straightening herself up, before noticing the Englishman had mysteriously disappeared.
It didn’t take long for her to notice him crawling through some foliage with a small camcorder in his hand, and he was getting close to one of the browsing herbivores. Fortunately, the animal didn’t seem to notice as it had some business to take care of, in this case, eating.
This was it. My first dinosaur encounter. My tent had been flattened by a gigantic herbivore called Barsboldia — at 33 feet long, not the biggest plant eater in the area, but one of the large plant eaters that lived here. There was something very unusual about these creatures that I wanted to get on camera. But first, I had to get very, very close.
"This is the biggest and most magnificent herbivore I've ever seen. She must be nearly 5 tonnes." Nigel said as he pointed the camcorder up to the Barsboldia. "She must have to pack in so much vegetation.”
The Barsboldia let out a bellow as she bent down and chomped down on the branches, unaware that she was still being watched.
“The most recognizable aspect of hadrosaurs are the flattened and laterally stretched rostral bones, which gives them the distinct duckbill look. And that’s what made duckbills special — they’re one of the few dinosaurs that can actually chew. No other dinosaurs can move their jaws like we can, but what the duckbills do, they got a battery of teeth. There can be over 2,000 teeth in that mouth, and they slam the lower jaw into the upper jaw, the bones distort, and they grind the vegetation between that battery of teeth." He explained as the female Barsboldia soon took notice of this strange creature.
"These are fabulous animals!” He said to the camcorder before the English naturalist got snorted on by the hadrosaur. "I don't believe it! Dinosaur snot! Thank you!" Eventually, he got up and let the Barsboldia be.
"That was a terrific start to the expedition, even though those brilliant duckbills actually trashed my tent." He said to the cameraman.
”Who are you?"
It was then that Nigel turned and forgot about the two newcomers he had met.
"Oh, where are my manners?" Nigel said before holding out his hand. "Hello, name’s Nigel. Nigel Marven."
The two stared at Nigel for a moment, until something clicked in Twlight’s head.
"Wait, you mean you’re THE Nigel Marven, the man on Shark Week?"
"The same."
Twilight’s response could best be described as SQUEE. Fluttershy was dumbfounded by this, as was Nigel.
"Wait, you know this man? And you watch Shark Week?"
"Guilty on both accounts and I am not ashamed to admit it.”
“So, who might you be?” Nigel asked.
“My name’s Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight introduced herself. “And this is my friend, Fluttershy. So, what are you doing here in the middle of a dino-filled desert in the first place?”
With the introductions out of the way, Nigel pulled out the Therizinosaurus claw from the destroyed tent, which greatly surprised the duo, having never seen a claw like that before.
“You see, this is the reason I'm here." He said to the girls. "This is a claw from a dinosaur called Therizinosaurus. The best guess by scientists is this belonged to a kind of theropod dinosaur—“
“That's the group of dinosaurs that includes most of the carnivorous ones,” Twilight interjected.
“That’s right, and just imagine a predator with claws like this," Nigel said, imagining what a predator with mighty claws like the one he held would look like.
"And I'm in just the right place to find the owner of that giant claw. This is the Nemegt Formation, and I’m on the eastern side of the giant continent of Laurasia in the Late Cretaceous. That’s 70 million years ago. In the 21st century, the arrangement of continents is very different, and where I am now will be present-day Mongolia." He explained to them, while the herd of Barsboldia wandered around the oasis calling to each other.
Just then, an idea seemed to pop into his head as he turned toward the girls.
“Hey, how would you like to have an amazing experience most people only dream of?” Nigel asked.
“And what would that be?” Fluttershy asked.
“How would you like to help me find Claws himself?” He offered.
Twilight’s eyes beamed with joy and excitement.
“That would be AMAZING!!!” She stated, very loudly, surprising the hadrosaurs, but not enough to spook them.
Fluttershy, however, seemed less than thrilled.
“Oh, come on, Fluttershy!” Twilight insisted. “This is the coolest thing to ever happen to us! Just think about it, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!” How often do we get sent back in time to help a world-famous zoologist find a mysterious dinosaur?”
Fluttershy just sighed. She knew once Twilight set her mind to something, there was no way to change her mind. Then again, she really couldn’t blame her. If they ever did have a chance to do something they’ve always wanted to do, they wouldn’t be quick to go home either. Nodding her head, she turned to Twilight with a smile.
“Alright Twilight, you win,” Fluttershy said.
Nevertheless, Twilight squealed with excitement, hugging her friend tightly.
“Thank you, thank you, so much!” She thanked them. “You’re never gonna regret this.” She said to Fluttershy before she turned to the cameraman. “You know, I don’t know if we’re going to find this “Claws…”
“I don’t know what other amazing and wonderful creatures we could see…” Fluttershy added.
“But whatever happens, this is going to be a cracking adventure!” Nigel exclaimed as he and his new colleagues began their journey.
The trio had been walking across the plains of the Nemegt for about an hour or so, Fluttershy spending some of the time reading through one of Nigel’s field guides to get more knowledge on this vast and beautiful landscape. As they traveled across the plains, Nigel noticed a large, heavily armored dinosaur with a clubbed tail resting beside a clutch of eggs. It had a chartreuse-colored body with darker greenish-brown armor plating across its back and tail as well as the top of its head and also a tannish gold-colored underbelly.
"Would you look at that, a female Saichania," Fluttershy said to the cameraman. "These amazing animals are almost like the hippopotamus of the Nemegt. They may be vegetarians, but they've got really powerful tail clubs that are capable of breaking bones."
"This one is a mother with her clutch of eggs, typically Saichania stick to areas where there's water, so I assume that a stream or a lake isn't too far away," Nigel told the cameraman as the Saichania watched these strange creatures. "But I think it’s best to leave her alone ‘cos neither of us want to be clobbered by that formidable tail."
Suddenly, the silence of the desert was broken by distant roaring calls.
"Shh. Shh!" Twilight quickly ushered everyone to silence. "I think I hear something."
The sound broke out again, allowing her to pinpoint exactly where it came from. "Over there, I think,” Twilight said before she turned to Nigel and Fluttershy. “You guys go ahead; I’m going to go check out what’s making that noise.”
“Alright, just don’t take too long!” Nigel called out as Twilight wasted no time following the calls to their source.
It looks like I was about to encounter one of the Nemegt’s oddest animals.
The search led Twilight to an arid basin where a herd of dinosaurs were wandering as she watched them, the violet-skinned girl was most excited as this species and its relatives were very well known for a dome-shaped head. Each herd member had black stripes and white spots on their necks, bodies, and tails.
A herd of Prenocephale, bizarre creatures with thick, dome-shaped skulls.
A Prenocephale roared as Twilight watched from nearby.
"Wow, these Prenocephale are incredible. I've always wanted to see these dinosaurs because they and their relatives were famous for their dome-shaped heads, giving them the nickname, ‘dome-heads’." Twilight said to the cameraman.
She watched as the Prenocephale wandered as one sniffed an old dead tree.
They prefer to feed on fruit and leaves... but they’re not too picky to eat roots and insects.
One male then rams an old tree and pushes it down with full strength and starts getting at the beetles hiding underneath. The Prenocephale forage as Twilight watched them, and among them was a big male.
"Check out this guy," Twilight said. "He must be the dominant male of the herd. But you’re probably wondering: ‘Why the dome-shaped head?’ Well, scientists are still working on that answer. But for the longest time researching these animals, many believed it was a built-in battering ram like with bighorn rams of the Rockies.”
“And I'm noticing that the Prenocephale’s head has some red color on it," the spectacled genius observed. "Fossil skulls have shown what looked like fibers for showing bright colors, so it must’ve been for display as well."
She watched as the dominant male bellowed out onto a rock as if keeping watch on the herd.
But trouble is starting to brew within the herd.
Twilight then noticed a commotion as the leading male saw one young male ramming the leg of another herd member.
This young male is throwing his weight around.
The young male rams his opponent again as it runs off.
The dominant male leaps off his rock and confronts the younger male as he turns to him as he bellows.
It's time for the dominant male to put him in his place or kick him out.
The older male paws the ground and then swings his head side-to-side as his dome-shaped head turns a brighter red.
He flaunts his colorful headgear...
The other members of the herd watch along with Twilight.
...trying to intimidate the youngster.
The younger male paws the ground as he isn't deterred as the confrontation grows intensely.
But he's not going to back down that easily.
Seeing that his rival wasn't backing down, the alpha bellowed as he pawed the ground as the herd and Twilight watched. Soon, he charges as the two males headbutt each other, and then the older male shoves the younger male by the shoulder.
"Did you see that?! That was a full-charge headbutt!” Twilight exclaimed. "It's almost like two football players coming at each other."
She turned back to the battle as the herd watched as the younger male rammed the alpha's leg as he lifted high and they bashed each other's heads hard.
If a human skull took that kind of blow, it would shatter like an egg!
The dominant male bellowed and grunted as they bashed heads again, and Twilight watched as the battle grew more violent.
But ten-inch-thick skulls enable them to survive powerful, head-on collisions.
The alpha took a few steps back, and then charged as he rammed the young male and pushed him aside. And now the battle was heating up more as the younger male ran off as the dominant male chased him. And the herd follows them as the head honcho knocks his opponent off his feet and the two fall over a short ridge and quickly get up and fight again.
"This is getting serious! They seem evenly matched." Twilight said, alarmed. "Sometimes these battles could lead to serious injury or even death. But they always end eventually with one backing off."
The older male is heavier, but the younger is more agile and has more stamina, and that tips the balance in his favor.
The two males continued fighting as the younger male then threw the lead male off his feet and hit the ground. Having won the battle, the younger male stood in triumph as the other Prenocephale stood.
The young male bellows in victory, but then his triumph is short-lived when the dominant male strikes a blow against his shoulder knocking him to the ground, and whines in pain.
And not just in the pain of his shoulder, but possibly his pride.
The final blow has been settled.
The young male turns to the lead male as he stands over him as the herd and Twilight watch, and he manages to get to his feet.
The loser has to pay a heavy price...
The loser then limps off.
Exile.
He then runs off as the head honcho watches his rival leave while panting and the young male runs off in the distance.
“Those dome-heads are really formidable, but I’ve gotta get through this herd and over to the other side,” Twilight told the cameraman. “I can see Nigel and Fluttershy in the distance and there’s some lush forest over there, and that may be the home of the Giant Claw.”
She then took off her backpack, zipped it open, and pulled out one of Rarity’s fashion bandannas that were for a canceled Wild West fashion show. But it might act as a bit of help for Twilight as she grabbed a long stick.
“And I think I have an idea that just might be crazy enough to work. Pachycephalosaurs like Prenocephale were non-avian dinosaurs, their closest descendants were birds. And just like birds, they could’ve seen well in color, especially the color red.” Twilight explained as she tied the bandanna onto the stick, making it into a makeshift flag. “And if I use this, the Prenocephales might pay no aggressive attention to me, and they’ll follow the flag instead.”
“Well…” she said, before heaving a hopeful sigh. “Let’s see if this works.”
And so, Twilight walked straight towards the herd. The dinosaurs immediately caught the sight of this new competitor and bellowed and made mock charges towards it, but they had more of a grudge against the bright thing on the end of the stick it was holding.
For Twilight, her plan seems to work more than she expected. It almost made her feel like a prehistoric bullfighter. Within a few seconds, she was through the herd of dome heads, calling out to the film crew to join her on the other side.
"Oh, my lord," muttered the boom operator, holding out his boom mic defensively in front of him as a Prenocephale snorted at him, flashing its red dome at the intruder.
Fortunately, the film crew was able to make it through the herd and rejoin Twilight and the others.
The search for the elusive Giant Claw had taken the trio of explorers to a large, forested area, where the sandy dunes end and vibrant green forests begin.
“This area of the Nemegt Formation is called a productive dune system. You've got these great big dunes and plains, then sandwiched in between is this verdant forest." Twilight explained to the cameraman. "It's windy here, you can see the sand grains whipping off the top. These dunes are marching. So, every now and then, the forests are swamped and then, eventually, a new forest grows. So, there's always new growth here."
"And this is the first forest we’ve found, and hopefully down there are some big carnivorous dinosaurs," Nigel told the cameraman before he and the girls went down into the forest.
“This is a perfect dinosaur forest,” Nigel told the cameraman. "There’s cycads, ferns, and these conifers, some of them can soar 200 feet into the air.”
Somehow, for some strange reason, they couldn't help but feel like they were being watched by someone...or something. Fluttershy heard something calling in the forest and she looked back, but whatever it was ran off.
However just as soon as Fluttershy turned her back, Twilight heard the same noise again, this time she and the others heard something tearing through the undergrowth, but it didn't sound like a big creature. These were several small creatures.
"We keep getting glimpses of fast-moving dinosaurs in the vegetation, along this creek," Fluttershy told the cameraman. "And I think it's a pack of Zanabazar. We don’t know what they’re looking for yet."
They decided to follow them as one of the Zanabazar leaps into the undergrowth.
We soon found out; that our hunch was right. Moving through the trees, there were 6 or 7 Zanabazar.
The Zanabazar pack ran through the forest, their bodies were covered almost entirely from head to toe in jet-black feathers, with four of them having resplendent red feathered crests atop their heads.
"This is an interesting dinosaur," Fluttershy said to the cameraman. "The generic name is derived from the first spiritual figurehead of Tibetan Buddhism, Zanabazar."
"They’re part of the family group called troodontids," Twilight said as she and the others followed the pack. "All troodontids have unique features of the skull, such as large numbers of closely spaced teeth and raptorial hands.”
“But they’re not interested in us. I think they’re stalking bigger prey. And we’re gonna try to follow them." Nigel deduced.
They continued to follow them until they saw the carcass of a Barsboldia and the Zanabazar pack was feasting on it.
“This is what they were after," Nigel said. "A dead Barsboldia. they must've picked up the scent of the carcass. They’re not paying any attention to us. They’re totally focused on feeding.”
"But what kind of predator could’ve done this to a Barsboldia?" Fluttershy thought to herself. "There's only one animal I could think of that could’ve done this damage, and I just really hope we don't run into it."
It was getting late, we had to leave the Zanabazar alone before they started paying attention to us, and we needed to find a safe place to set up camp.
Fluttershy felt a little nervous as she began to settle in for her first night in prehistoric Mongolia. Whatever brought down that Barsboldia had to be from the apex predator of the region. There's no way that the Zanabazar pack could’ve brought it down. An angry Barsboldia would’ve made short work of the troodontids.
I had trouble sleeping that night. Just the thought of the Nemegt’s apex predator raiding our campsite while we were asleep. I just hoped it wouldn’t happen to us.
The next morning, the trio were packing up camp, ready to move on with their search for their mysterious target.
“So far, we’ve seen a herd of Barsboldia, a mother Saichania and her eggs, a group of Prenocephale, and now a pack of Zanabazar,” Twilight said to the cameraman. “But neither of us haven’t seen any evidence of the Giant Claw, at all.”
“Maybe this habitat’s just too dense,” Fluttershy deduced. “There might not be enough herbivores for it to prey on if that’s the case.”
“We’ve got a long way to go, but if we can get through there, maybe there’s some more open habitat on the other side,” Nigel suggested.
Soon, after putting out the campfire and packing up the tents, the explorers left the forests for now as there didn't seem to be any sign of the Giant Claw. And if that wasn't enough, the forest was getting too dangerous with small and large carnivores just around the corner.
“We came out of the dense forest into this scrubbier habitat and Twilight found our first real clue. This may be the nest of The Giant Claw.” Nigel said as he and the girls stood next to a large nest that had been raided.
"It’s been broken into," Twilight said to the cameraman. "Perhaps this was the work of the Zanabazar. Just like monitor lizards in Africa that break into crocodile nests. The Zanabazar must have raided this nest and that’s what happened here."
"But look at what I've found inside," Fluttershy told the cameraman after she picked up one of the eggs from the nest. "This must be the embryo of a Therizinosaurus, the Giant Claw. Even as a little baby inside the shell, you can see the claws at the front of the body."
"But if this is a nest site, it’s really strange, because look… at this," Twilight told the cameraman as she pointed at a pile of dung. "This is herbivore dung. It’s not carnivore dung.”
She handed one of the dung balls to Nigel, who opened it apart to see what was inside the poo.
“Look inside. There's pine needles, bits of cycads.” Nigel said as he examined the fresh coprolite before he sniffed it. “It smells like a herbivore. And we can't understand why this is all scattered around here, around the nest site of the Giant Claw, which--which must be a predator."
We’d been tracking for two days, yet we weren’t any closer to understanding our target. There’s nothing else left but to continue our search through this extraordinary land.
{pause at 0:45 and play video below to begin the hunt}
Leaving the mysterious nest behind, the trio were heading across a relatively open area when suddenly, an animal cry was heard in the distance. And it was getting closer now. Only this time it got louder, repeated by many more animals.
Soon, dozens of thundering feet just around the next bend before a large herd came into view. There were at least twenty Barsboldia, young and old, but they were joined by another group of dinosaurs.
The ostrich-like dinosaurs had feathers that heavily resembled those of modern ostriches, with the males being largely covered in jet-black feathers with a blood-red patch along the back of the lower portions of their necks and similarly red-colored feathers on the backs of their arms while the females being largely covered in tawny gold feathers with a snowy white patch across the backs of the lower portions of their necks and similarly white colored feathers on the backs of their arms.
“I know what these are, I just can't place the name,” Fluttershy muttered, her brow in deep thought. “It was something like Galli– galli-uh–"
"Gallimimus?" offered Nigel.
"Thanks, Nigel."
The Gallimimus was a large species of ornithomimid, or ostrich dinosaur, a fleet animal using its speed to escape predators and may have had good vision and intelligence comparable to ratite birds.
“Look at the wheeling—” Nigel pointed out. “The uniform direction change! Like a flock of birds evading a predator!”
“Guys… I think we better start running,” Fluttershy suggested nervously.
“Why?” Twilight faced Fluttershy.
“Because one—they’re flocking this way,” Fluttershy answered, backing away before pointing to something in the distance as she took off running. “And two— because of that!”
Soon, all four eyes turned as they saw the reason behind the panicking herd: chasing them was a large predator. It looked like a T-rex, but it had a longer, narrower skull and light, sandy gold scales with a tan underbelly, graduating to a greyish brown on its arms and legs and with steely grey feathers around its neck and on the tip of its tail. Its head was large, broad, and powerful-looking and a roar revealed broad, powerful-looking teeth. Its arms were disproportionately small in comparison to its massive body and its hands had two fingers. Most distinctively, it had, rather oddly, bright, blue eyes.
Without another moment's delay, the duo ran like hell in the other direction as Fluttershy did just as the Gallimimus and Barsboldia herd came thundering at their heels, all sixty strong trying to escape the approaching predator.
It was a real footrace, but the herd was far faster, and Nigel knew they weren’t going to make it at this pace.
“Quick! Head for that fallen tree!” Nigel instructed.
They proceed to jump over a huge fallen tree. There was enough space to hide under. They covered their heads as the herd thundered over the roots. Their clawed feet struck the roots dangerously close to them, but otherwise, they were unscathed.
Finally, the whole herd passed. The trio peered up, over the wooden fortress. They looked toward the trees, which the herd now ran alongside, as the predator began to slow down.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar was heard somewhere within the trees ahead, making everyone's blood run cold, especially Fluttershy’s as her fears from last night were confirmed. The top predator of these lands was the prowl.
Soon, a second predatory dinosaur, the same species as the pursuer except with black speckles around its body, erupted out of the tree line, scattering the herd, and throwing them into disarray, causing the animals to run in all directions. The whole party bore witness to the tyrannosaur’s ferocity as he kicked into overdrive, running down a straggling Barsboldia and sinking his teeth into the animal's neck. The Barsboldia struggled and pulled free as the male bit down again, the female rushed in and rammed the hadrosaur off its feet. Soon, the male lunged and bit down on the neck of the Barsboldia as the female held their target down. The duckbill never stood a chance.
The Englishman and the girls half rose to their feet, staring in wonder as the pair of apex predators began to devour their prey.
“This is what I was fearing about last night,” Fluttershy whispered nervously. “Those have to be Tarbosaurus, the Asian cousins of Tyrannosaurus Rex. I’m pretty sure that’s what brought down that Barsboldia last night."
"On any safari, you always want to see the top predator, but neither of us aren’t that keen... on these guys. They are so huge, 40 feet long.” Nigel whispered, sharing the same fear as his friend.
"They’re tearing away massive chunks of flesh and bone before swallowing them whole!" noted Twilight. “It's estimated that, like T-rex, a Tarbosaurus could rip away five hundred pounds of flesh in a single bite, and those jaws can exert over eight thousand pounds per square inch!"
"Eight thousand—that's even more bite force than a saltwater croc's, which is only more than three thousand!" silently exclaimed the animal enthusiast, wide-eyed.
"And their bite is the strongest in the Animal Kingdom!" added the English naturalist, just as amazed.
If T-rex was the King of the Cretaceous, then Tarbosaurus was the Emperor.
The male Tarbo paused in the middle of his meal and blared a loud, unearthly roar. In their excitement, neither the Englishman nor the girls had realized that they were directly upwind of the tyrannosaurs’ keen noses.
Upon realizing their position, Twilight and Nigel exchanged sheepish looks before nodding in agreement. "Fun's over," murmured Twilight.
"Okay. Keep low and back away slowly." instructed the Englishman. "That roar was only a warning." That being said, the troop withdrew slowly away from the feasting.
It was time to change our tactics. Across the scrubland, was several large freshwater lakes. Instead of searchin' for Claws, we’d wait for him to come to us.
After traveling for nearly two hours, the trio trekked away from the Tarbosaurs to their surprise, a rare desert hotspot of life.
An oasis with dozens of dinosaurs gathered to drink water from Barsboldia, Prenocephale, Saichania, and Nemegtosaurus, the sauropods that had dark reddish-brown scales with tannish white stripes across their backs, necks, and tails, as bellows filled the air.
It was like a dinosaur paradise here.
Open water attracts desert animals of every kind from many miles away. And some dwarf everyone else.
Nearby approaching the oasis, a herd of desert giants is on the march as they make their way to the waterhole.
The Mongolian Titan.
The nomadic herd of gigantic titanosaurs, all with grey and golden scales, made their way towards the oasis as they may've smelled the water from several miles away. And a few enantiornithines flew by as one rested on the neck of one of the herd members.
They are colossal. Weighing over 70 tons, they are among the biggest animals to have ever walked the Earth.
"I can't believe what we are seeing," Nigel said. "I think these are the Mongolian Titan."
"There aren't any fossils of them yet found," Twilight said. "But the only evidence we have of this dinosaur was a fossilized footprint."
"But they're huge," Fluttershy said. "I bet these Mongolotitans could be the biggest dinosaur to have ever lived in the Nemegt."
"Yeah, you got that-" Twilight then frowned, baffled by what her friend said. "What'd you say?"
"Oh! Mongolotitan." Fluttershy said. "A name I came up with for the Mongolian Titan."
"What?" Twilight said. "Fluttershy, this species hasn’t even been discovered yet."
"Technically speaking, yes," Fluttershy said. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't call it something."
"She has a point, Twilight," Nigel said. "I think Mongolotitan could work. It’s kind of a cool name."
The ‘Mongolotitan’ herd approaches the waterhole as one nears the shore of the water as a few Barsboldia move out of its way. The intrepid explorers managed to sneak through the crowd to get a better look at the giant as it lowered its head and neck down to drink.
There may be a crowd, but if you've got the longest neck on Earth, you can jump the queue.
"This is beautiful. On any safari, you look for watering holes; they’re magnets for animals. And on a dinosaur safari, it's no different." Fluttershy told the cameraman. "And this must be the best chance for us to find evidence of the Giant Claw.”
“The thing about water holes being a magnet for wildlife, is the predators know that too. In Africa, lions and crocodiles wait for zebras and wildebeest to come to drink." Twilight told the cameraman. "Predators like Tarbosaurus could show up at any time. So, we’ve really got to watch our step here."
Not too far away, near the edge of a small forest, they found what looked like the carcass of a Therizinosaurus. Unfortunately for them, the head and neck were scavenged completely and had been removed from the body.
However, the massive arms were still intact and more impressive in real life than in a photograph.
“Look at the size of this!” Nigel exclaimed as he laid down next to one of the fallen beast’s arms. “I’m six-foot-two, and this arm actually dwarfs me.”
“And to be honest, we’re actually a little nervous about meeting an animal with claws like that. They have to be for disemboweling its prey!” Twilight said in a nervous and fearful tone.
“But the more we closer to solving this mystery…” Fluttershy said, before heaving a confused sigh. “The more we get confused.”
She then held three small white objects in her hand and showed them to the camera.
“Look at these. I found them around the body, and these aren’t the teeth of a carnivorous dinosaur; they’re leaf-shaped and serrated. These were designed for slicing through vegetation.” She explained as she turned to the dead body of the seemingly monstrous beast. “And earlier, when we found the Giant Claw’s nest, there was also that pile of herbivorous dung—“
Before she could finish her sentence, she immediately let out a silent gasp in sudden realization as a small smile appeared on her face.
Maybe Therizinosaurus, the Giant Claw, may not be what it seems.
While the trio were busy looking at the carcass, suddenly, they could hear the herbivores starting to panic. Something had disturbed them as they began to leave en masse, with only the ‘Mongolotitans’ left behind because of their size, nothing could take an animal like them down.
Soon, the threat revealed themselves as the same Tarbosaurus pair that the trio had seen earlier that day during the stampede.
Fortunately for the Englishman and the girls, the Tarbosaurs showed no signs of hunting behavior as they didn't look interested in a meal and stood in place for a few moments.
Soon, the Tarbosaurus pair bent down and started lapping up water as they drank to wash down their meal of Barsboldia flesh.
But as they drank, there was suddenly a loud eerie screech, catching the attention of both the tyrannosaurs and the explorers.
"What… is that?" Nigel muttered as he took out his binoculars and peered through them.
Then just 60 feet away, something had emerged from the brush. The creature was large; about thirty feet long and was as tall as a giraffe. It had a small head atop a long neck with a bipedal gait and a heavy, deep, broad body, with short, stocky legs. Its’ arms were their most striking feature, almost disproportionately long compared to its body, with incredibly long, vicious-looking claws tipping its fingers. It had a coat of sandy-brown feathers everywhere except its belly and legs, which were featherless.
“I don't believe it! At last, there's Claws! Therizinosaurus!” The English naturalist exclaimed excitedly.
“I couldn’t even imagine a creature like that! Tiny head, pot belly, and those huge claws! This could be the oddest of all dinosaurs!” a stunned Twilight muttered.
"The Tarbosaurs... they noticed too." Fluttershy worriedly pointed out as the predators approached the strange creature in front of them.
"Normally big predators avoid each other. But it looks like... there could be a clash, so we better... get under cover!” Nigel ordered as the trio and cameraman headed for the cover of the bushes.
The beasts approached each other as a bloodbath was certainly about to take place.
Advancing toward the claw-fingered dinosaur, the tyrannosaurs snarled and bellowed, with the female rearing her entire body upward as if trying to make herself look bigger than she actually was. But then the Therizinosaurus raised his massive, clawed arm and slammed it into the female tyrannosaur's head, horribly maiming the left side of the Tarbo’s skull and sending her spinning. The female Tarbosaur landed in a great thud to the ground, dazed by the powerful swipe. The male charged towards the Therizinosaurus, hissing angrily, only for the Therizinosaurus to swing its arm into the dinosaur's flank, leaving three long gashes on its side and causing the Tarbosaurus to hiss in pain and discomfort. The Therizinosaurus swished its arms from side to side and hissed menacingly at the mighty predators. Defeated, the tyrannosaurs slunk off and left the Therizinosaurus. They would have to find food elsewhere.
Fortunately for the Tarbosaurs, they’ll survive the nasty injuries they received, and they’ll heal, whereas if a mammal received the same injuries, it would die in seconds.
The Therizinosaurus let out a triumphant roar that caused a lot of enantiornithines to flee in sheer terror.
It was an awesome fight. But the Tarbosaurus pair eventually backed down. And we got a chance to sneak out and observe the Therizinosaurus.
Soon, it wasn't long before the lone Therizinosaurus was no longer the only member of its kind by the lakeside. Five seconds later, eight more had also arrived at the lakeside and did something rather extraordinary.
We were in for a rather shocking and unexpected surprise: a whole herd of them had appeared from the forest and began browsing on the trees!
"Now everything adds up!" Twilight told the cameraman. "Those teeth Fluttershy found at the carcass, were the teeth of a herbivore. There was also the dung crammed with vegetation at the nest site. That could only mean one thing…”
“Therizinosaurus, it’s a plant eater, not a predator!” Nigel concluded with awe as they watched the Mongolian oddities feed off the trees.
“Look at them, they’re using those giant claws to drag leaves towards their mouths, just like Ice Age ground sloths.” Twilight observed in wonder. “And their necks are just like that of a giraffe browsing for leaves. And those pot-bellies; those are great fermentation chambers for all that vegetation they have to eat.”
The duo continued to watch the Therizinosaurus feeding from a safe distance to avoid disturbing them. They knew that these animals may be herbivores, but even they can be dangerous.
As the pair continued to stare in wonder at how they thought the so-called predatory Giant Claw was in fact a herbivorous creature, Fluttershy looked on at the beasts, before an idea hatched in her mind.
Cautiously, she took Nigel's camcorder out of his backpack, surprisingly without him or Twilight noticing, and inch by inch slowly walked towards the herd of therizinosaurs.
Twilight was the first to take notice. "Fluttershy? Fluttershy, what are you doing?!"
“Don’t worry, it’s alright.” Fluttershy hopefully reassured them. “Because of my scent, I smell like a mammal, I won’t be attacked. Besides, the only mammals around here in the Nemegt were the sizes from rats to small badgers, so they shouldn’t be threatened by me.”
At least, that was her theory. As far as we could see those huge claws weren't for killing things, although they clearly showed those Tarbosaurus a thing or two.
In fact, they seemed to have given Fluttershy an idea. Something that would bring our quest for The Giant Claw to a natural end.
"They seem completely oblivious even if I speak in this tone. So, I'm gonna go even closer and see if I can touch one." Fluttershy said as she edged closer to the herd.
The therizinosaurs had never seen such a creature like this before, coming ever closer to them. Was it a threat like the tyrannosaurs earlier or was it like them: a harmless vegetarian?
As the beasts looked on at this strange animal, Fluttershy had just gotten two feet away from one of the giant’s legs and slowly began to reach out a hand and successfully touched both the scales and feathers of the Therizinosaurus.
The therizinosaur, however, slightly jolted and looked down at the creature, and as Fluttershy began filming it, out of curiosity and to both Nigel and Twilight’s shock and amusement, the beast licked the camera lens, causing the animal enthusiast to fall flat on her back onto the sand, causing her to let out a little chuckle as she got back up and continued filming one of the Cretaceous’ most bizarre dinosaurs ever as it and the rest of its herd began to move on in search of greener shrubbery.
Nigel was definitely right about one thing: this had certainly been ‘a crackin’ adventure!’
Author's Note
And thus, the mystery of the Giant Claw had been solved! Join Nigel and the girls next time as they travel back 93 million years to Cretaceous Argentina to witness a real life battle of titans between a monstrous predator and its’ even gigantic prey! All this and more on Equestria Girls: Chased by Dinosaurs… Land of Giants!
Note: The Prenocephale sequence is a mix of the Pachycephalosaurus sequence from Prehistoric Planet II and Nigel’s flag test with the Protoceratops in the original version of Chased by Dinosaurs: The Giant Claw. And the Tarbosaurus hunting scene is a homage to the Gallimimus stampede in the first Jurassic Park movie, with Barsboldia added in the mix (Fun Fact: Hadrosaurus was originally going to be the animals stampeding from Rexy the T-rex)
3. Land of Giants {Pt. 1}
This is zoologist and adventurer, Nigel Marven. He's spent his whole life traveling the world, in search of the largest animals alive today. But he always wanted to meet the ultimate giants. To go on a prehistoric safari. Amongst the largest land animals ever.
To travel back in timeand Walk... With Dinosaurs!
Argentina, 93 million years ago…
In Prehistoric South America, it is a normal day. The sun is shining, a herd of iguanodonts are browsing on the trees, and all is calm.
Needless to say, it doesn't last.
Suddenly, without warning, a blue vortex appeared out of thin air. And before any of the dinosaurs could react, a Jeep Wrangler is ejected from the portal and spooking the ornithopods into stampeding.
This vehicle belonged to naturalist and conservationist Nigel Marven. And with him were Fluttershy and Twilight, both in what Nigel would call, ”the perfect zoologist’s attire”.
{Note: just visualize the duo in their jungle outfits from Dance Magic, minus the pith helmets}
Soon, the trio arrived at their camp as Nigel exited the jeep before speaking to the cameraman. "Just imagine, that this line here represents 233 million years B.C., the time when dinosaurs first appeared," Nigel tells him as he drew a line into the dirt before Twilight drew another line.
"And right over here, this represents 66.5 million years B.C., the time when all non-avian dinosaurs went extinct, and with them, a vast majority of fauna that the world may never see again."
"Now we’re precisely here." The Englishman said as he drew another line in the dirt." 93 million years B.C. in the Turonian, the second age in the Late Cretaceous. This magical place will one day become Argentina. We’ve always wanted to come here, because the dinosaurs that live around here, they're the biggest ever."
A small distance away from camp, Fluttershy was off on her own and near what was to be the skeleton of a titanic dinosaur. "This is the skeleton of an Argentinosaurus, the largest land animal that ever lived. Look at it, it must be over 130 feet long," she said with amazement. "Even so, some of these massive bones have puncture marks in them from formidable dagger-like teeth. What kind of monster could take out prey as large as this? It couldn't have been T-rex, it would have been another 25 million years before it evolved, it was a predator that was close to its’ size, if not larger."
"So, this is the setting of a prehistoric clash of titans, the biggest prey of all time…" Fluttershy said.
"The biggest predator of all time…”
“And just imagine a hunt like that, and it happens here every year."
Any day now, this area, just a mile from our camp, will witness an extraordinary arrival of giant dinosaurs. Every year, a herd of Argentinosaurus visits this lake, and every year, giant predators gather to hunt them down.
"This is such a special place," Began Fluttershy to the camera. “because the Argentinosaurus come here to lay their eggs." She crouched down at the remains of an eggshell from a previous breeding season. "This shore on the edge of the lake - it’s the perfect nursery for them. Look, there's eggshells scattered all over the place here." She picked up one of the eggs. "That gives you a good idea of what these huge animals hatch out of. Quite small beginnings - the full egg is the size of a football."
She began to dig up one of the nests with a trowel. "It's exactly as I suspected. Look. The females come here year after year because this is the perfect place for them to lay their eggs... and Nigel, Twilight, and especially I can't wait until the herd comes back to lay their eggs for this season."
But the first dinosaurs I saw here were hardly even giants.
Soon, out of the corner of her eye, Fluttershy noticed a saturated red sauropod with a light underbelly meandering amongst the shrubbery; moving to hide behind a tree, so that she didn't startle the animal, she said. "It can't be anything else than a Cathartesaura, a relatively small species of sauropod. This one may look like a young sauropod, but this thing is an adult, these sauropods don't grow very big."
"Only a few skeletons have been found of this animal, mostly consisting of a few limb bones," Fluttershy explained while the Cathartesaura wandered around the nesting site. "The generic name is composed of Cathartes, a type of new world vulture genus, and saura which means lizard. This creature is one of the last of a dying breed of the diplodocidae with the titanosaurs filling their ecological niche when they are gone."
She followed the beast down to the bank and crouched by the edge of the river as one of the last diplodocids gently trotted away. But what Fluttershy didn't realize was that she was being watched…
Even standing next to this smaller sauropod was quite an experience. What on Earth would it be like to get close to an Argentinosaurus which was much larger than this Cathartesaura? I could hardly imagine it...
Suddenly, without warning, a theropod with a striped head, light brown skin, tiny arms, and a vibrant throat pouch, mock charges toward the animal enthusiast, causing Fluttershy to let out a startled yell and go for a tactical retreat.
“Mother of Faust,” panted Fluttershy some distance away from the predator. “I’m smiling.... because of the shock of that..."
*Recaps to mystery theropod mock charging Fluttershy with a vicious roar*
"Scared me... out of my skin...” said Fluttershy, catching her breath from the near-death experience. “And… I'm pretty sure I know what this is, a theropod called Skorpiovenator. This dinosaur is part of a family of theropods known as abelisaurids, these dinosaurs usually have tiny arms, smaller than even the arms of T-rex."
"This dinosaur is one of the predators of Argentinosaurus hatchlings, and he and other Skorpiovenators will be a real threat to the herd." She explained. "When they come to the nesting site, the abelisaurs will be waiting for them, so the young Argentinosaurus can be taken by this fearsome creature."
Soon, she left behind the nesting site and back to camp, to avoid getting into any trouble with an aggravated Skorpiovenator.
Walking along a slightly steep hill, Nigel took a swig from his canteen as calls of different dinosaurs were heard in the distance.
"We can't just sit around and wait." Fluttershy said, looking back to the camera. "This is an active way to look for the herd.”
“If we can get high enough," Twilight gestured to the top of the hill they were walking up. "Then we should be able to see for miles and get a view of them if they're anywhere near here."
As the duo climbed further up the hill, they noticed a small herd of dinosaurs browsing on nearby trees, the same ones that ran past their jeep. "At last!" said Nigel. "Some dinosaurs. It's not the herd we’re looking for. I'm pretty certain that they are a type of iguanodont. These are very successful dinosaurs; they've been around since the Mid-Jurassic; they'll be around until the end of the Late Cretaceous and they colonized every single continent."
Our search for the elusive giants was taking us an increased distance from the nesting site. To find their migration route, we even went as far as the ocean.
“We’ve come all this way to find that this coastline is too steep for big animals—" Nigel told the cameraman before a relatively large pterosaur flew past him and the girls. "As I was saying; for big animals like Argentinosaurus to move along."
The large pterosaurs were covered in brown pycnofibers, had dark purple skin, large beaks resembling that of a stork, and huge leathery wings almost like a bat.
But this place was a perfect habitat for another type of massive reptile, which was thriving: the pterosaurs!
Fluttershy decided to approach one of the large pterosaurs as it looked at her carefully before calling out to another.
"This is one of the most thrilling sights in the prehistoric world, chaoyangopterids are flying all around us." She told the cameraman. "I've come up to this one, who is just digesting a crustacean and I'm just 8 feet away. It's only when you get this close that you realize how huge they are."
“But some people wonder how can these large animals fly?" Fluttershy said as the teen watched one of the chaoyangopterids fly around the sea. "It’s because everything about these creatures is designed to be lightweight, the bones are hollow and these membranous wings, the only support is these thin and flexible rods. They’re more like bat wings than bird wings."
She watched on as a big male chaoyangopterid took off into the sky. Others landed on the beach and started picking at the tide pools, taking small crustaceans up from the water and eating them.
Eventually, the trio left the Cretaceous beaches and drove back to the camp as the sun began to set.
We hadn't found the giant dinosaurs, but they had found us.
“What the heck…?” Fluttershy muttered in utter disbelief as the headlights of the jeep revealed that the campsite had been completely wrecked!
“Flippin’ hell!” Nigel exclaimed as he approached one of the tents that had massive gashes on it. “There's been a big animal here. Look at those…slash marks. The whole place has been trashed.”
"Look at this quick!" Twilight called out. "A dinosaur tooth trying to bite into this can of meat. And it’s enormous! There must’ve been a really big predator here."
"I don't think it was a Skorpiovenator though," Fluttershy said to Twilight. "Skorpiovenator can't make those kinds of slashing claw marks."
Soon, the trio heard a loud hissing sound, which sounded almost like a crocodile, before going into the tent, still nervous about the predator should it come back….
*To be continued…*
Author's Note
Well, looks the search for an epic battle of behemoths has taken a turn for the worse. Who was the mysterious creature that wrecked Nigel and the girls’ campsite? Find out when Part 2 of this Cretaceous-sized story continues!
