The Legend Of Cutesaurus

Petunia Paleo’s used to spending time in badlands, deserts, and other harsh climates. The same can’t be said for the rest of her expedition – the brightest and best of Equestria’s budding paleontologists they’re not. No serious scientist would risk their reputation on a venture this outlandish, so she’d asked her friends to come along instead.

Some, like Lily Longsocks, make sense to bring on an expedition. The earth pony filly is famous around Ponyville for her super strength. She’s loaded down with all of their camping gear and other equipment, but isn’t even breaking a sweat hauling it all.

Others, however, Petunia’s already regretting bringing along. “Are we there yet?” Honolu-loo asks for the third time in twenty minutes.

Their guide, Little Strongheart, huffs in annoyance. “We only left Appleloosa half an hour ago. Have some patience, ponies.”

Honolu-loo isn’t known for her patience. Bored, she precariously perches atop their gear and takes a nap. Lily doesn’t even notice the extra weight as she continues following Petunia and their buffalo guide past scenic mesas and buttes.

Petunia has dedicated her life to dinosaurs. She’s dug up fossils everywhere from her backyard to the Palomino Desert. She’s been mentoring with Dr. Fossil since her cutie mark came in. But the thing she most wants is to see a live dinosaur. Starlight Glimmer has repeatedly refused her request to be taken back in time, so she researched every legend about unknown animals she could find. One of them is an ancient buffalo story – Cutesaurus, aka the Thunder Beast.

Little Strongheart leads them past their sacred stampeding grounds. As they approach an oasis, she declares she will take them no further.

“But…”

“No buts. I told you I’d lead you to the legendary Cutesaurus.” She motions to symbols decorating the ground. “But my tribe is forbidden from setting hoof past here.”

Petunia gasps as she recognizes the symbols as an ancient language that no one has ever deciphered. “I’ve seen this before. It’s a dead language from the Proto-Pony era that nopony’s ever been able to translate. There are no remains of ponies in the fossil record until millions of years later. Can you read these?”

Little Strongheart shakes her head. “No. There is none amongst our tribe who can. It has been passed down from generation to generation not to pass this point. You should heed this warning as well. But I know that ponies are curious and stubborn…” She trails off as the expedition has already crossed the line. “Just like that. I shall wait here for your return until sunset. If you’ve not returned by then, I’ll be forced to return to Appleloosa without you. Good luck and stay safe.” She sits in the shade of a rock and enjoys some berries she’s packed for the trip.

The ponies quickly traverse the distance to the oasis, Petunia outright galloping in anticipation. The small body of water is surrounded by cycads, ferns, and other foliage that dates back millions of years. The vegetation once covered vast swaths of Equestria, but has declined over the eons. Much to their surprise a small head appears above the tallest cycad. Bright blue eyes watch them from thirty feet above their heads. What’s most surprising is that the sauropod has a long mane of blonde hair that trails down her neck.

“Magnificent.” It’s the only word that springs to Petunia’s mind, and the others quickly agree. None of them had expected the buffalo’s legend to be real, but at least one of them had been hoping. It takes all of Petunia’s will to not run forward and glomp the dinosaur.

The ponies and dinosaur observe each other for a while. Cutesaurus eventually digs into the ground and draws symbols nearly identical to the ones Little Strongheart had pointed out earlier.

Petunia gasps. “If you’re writing this, then that means…” She trails off as she realizes there’s no way she’ll ever be able to convince anypony of her newfound discovery. “That means it wasn’t some unknown ancestral pony civilization, that was a dinosaur civilization. We’ve horribly miscalculated everything.”

Honolu-loo is hovering at the sauropod’s eye level. They may not speak the same language, but their body language expresses a lot. Neither feels threatened by the other. It’s a good start. She lands in front of Petunia. “Are you saying dinosaurs are sentient?”

“You mean sapient, and yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

[CHOICE]Cutesaurus is sapient. Petunia didn’t expect that. Now what?

Leave her alone; if she’s happy here, let her stay here (hero)
Bring her back to Canterlot and help her adapt to today’s civilization (chaos)
This changes nothing – everypony should have the right to see a living dinosaur (villain)