//------------------------------// // II. Journey to Dinoville // Story: Of Dust and Gold // by Shroomkin //------------------------------// Journey to Dinoville "Well... that was weird." Jedidiah sighed. He really had to stop himself from squealing after he saw the cute bunch of equines. While baby dinosaurs were cute, those things... they were cuter. That combined with the fact that they were talking equines pretty much made him question if he should continue drinking or not. The coats never really bothered him. After all, he saw some green brontops along the way, grazing whilst he was chasing that lunatic of a bandit. That and one of his friends had a pink Coelophysis. He grumbled to himself as he went back home. He gave them water, so they should be fine for an hour. And with that free time, maybe then can he convince Thorn Charge to finally wear the heavy transporter, or maybe just attach a cart to it. "Hey there, Jed!" a small child waved at him. "Barry, good to see ya!" He dismounted Sky Chaser and ruffled the kid's hair, making sure that he held onto the lead. "Did ya take care of the dinos in the stable?" Barry grinned as he ran towards the stable and back to Jed. "She laid an egg!" Just then, a large Parasaurolophus stepped outside, nuzzling the little kid and the egg. Jed patted the Para, smiling in awe. He had seen her grow from an egg and now she's a mother of her own clutch of eggs. "What do you plan to name the newborns, Barry?" He said, looking at a giggling child as the Para licked him in the cheek. "Hmm." He pondered. "I wanna name them... Fluffy, Kent, Mylene, and Tuck!" Jed laughed and ruffled his hair once again. "Well, better hope old man Bill allows those names." He then left, waving goodbye to the kid. He wanted to walk, and so he walked. It was relaxing. He never had the time to walk and just breathe in the scenery. It was either the desk job at the office, or tackling some pesky bandit over some cargo. Heck, even bounty hunters get under his nerves at times. "I just hope he finally accepts that heavy transporter... What do you think Sky?" The Coelo looked at him and simply licked his face. "Yes, yes, you're probably right." Eventually, he managed to get to his house. "Hello? I'm home." He said, garnering no response. "Guess they're still away, huh, Sky?" Bringing Sky Chaser into the stables, he was eventually greeted by a grumpy rhino-like dinosaur. "Consarn it, Thorn Charge! I haven't even done anything and you're already mad!" He placed his hand unto his face, squeezing the ridge of his nose. He sighed and patted the Centrosaurus. "Alright. Alright. If I take you outside, will you promise not to charge at the gates again." The Centrosaurus growled. Jed sighed. "I swear, why do I even keep you?" He then grabbed a saddle and proceeded to add a bit more. The Centro wasn't pleased when he had to chomp down on the bridle. He snorted and grunted, but Jed was unyielding. "Alright. Let's go." "IT'S BEEN 30 MINUTES! HE'LL NEVER COME BAHAHACK!" Rarity moaned and wept, hitting the ground with her hoof. She sniffed, then sobbed again. "WE'LL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER! I HAVEN'T EVEN GOT THE CHANCE TO MEET MY ONE TRUE LOVE!" This made everypony give her a deadpan stare, with some sighing. Rainbow rolled her eyes at her friend's antics as she stretched her wings and flew upwards. "Rarity, calm down. I don't think he'll just forget about us like that." Twilight said, trying to comfort the distressed mare. "Besides, we're colorful ponies! He will never forget that!" Pinkie added, which is true. They were indeed colorful. In the span of 30 minutes, the group managed to attract a few dinosaurs who were mostly herbivores. A Coelo came by, however, this one was much smaller and decided to simply nibble on Applejack's Stetson, much to the chagrin of the farmer. It was only when a small yet chubby one-horned dinosaur arrived that the Coelo stopped nibbling and bolted to another place. Of course, being an animal lover, Fluttershy decided to pat the dinosaur. The dinosaur was relaxed and was a herbivore, thank Celestia for that. When the whole herd finally passed through, and the dinosaur left the group, only then did they realize that it was a baby dinosaur. "I wonder what they are called. Ohh, this is so fun!" Fluttershy exclaimed, clapping her hooves together. When the whole herd went away, the young Coelo went back and started nibbling on the Stetson yet again. "Consarn it- Fluttershy! Ah need help here, please!" Fluttershy hovered next to Applejack and began to scold the Coelophysis. "No! Bad... uhh... crane? You do not nibble on other pony's stuff!" She glared and the tiny Coelo whimpered. "Ohh, there there, it's alright now. As long as you learned your lesson, then all is good." Fluttershy said, hugging the tiny Coelo and nuzzling it. Relaxed by this, the Coelo yawned and nuzzled Fluttershy's chest as it went to sleep. A collective "aww" can be heard from the group. This made everyone look with awe, with some even cooing at the tiny dinosaur. "Heh, Ah guess ya ain't that bad." Not even Spike was immune to the cuteness of the Coelo. Just then, a blue pegasus landed, managing to snag a bit of water from the forming clouds. "Heh, what did I say. Best. Flyer. Ever." Rainbow said, giving everycreature water. "Uhh, Fluttershy, what is that? And why does it... look so cool?" Rainbow queried, pointing at the Coelo. "I don't know, it's a new creature." She gasped. "Do you think he'll come back with a new creature?" Fluttershy excitedly said. Twilight then pondered, placing a hoof on her chin. "He did say something about Thorn Charge to help with carrying us all." "Maybe it's one of those things that passed through!" Pinkie said, bouncing up and down. They all nodded. "Well, it does fit the name. Still, I don't want to be at the receiving end of whatever horn that thing has." Rarity spoke, finally managing to calm down. Just then, a low grunt can be heard. A huge dinosaur walked by along with some babies. It had a club for a tail, and a really armored back. Of course, since Rainbow Dash had Tank, this dinosaur immediately pierced her heart. "Oh... my... GOSH! Look at the babies!" Fluttershy said, extending a hoof to the playful Ankylosaurusi. Twilight then had an idea, grabbing hold a bit of cacti with her magic and fed the babies. "Aww!" They collectively said. However, the babies fought and nibbled each other after one was being fed and the other wasn't. "Hey now, don't ya start fightin', okay?" Applejack said, remembering her sister. The mother then groaned, calling back her children as they waddled away. One even tumbled down after sneezing. "So," Spike said, watching the baby dinosaurs run off to their mother. "All we need to do now is wait then, huh?" Spike asked. Hopeful, they decided to at least walk a bit around the cave to see if there was something interesting to do while they wait. "Alright, you had your fun. Now, can we place a wagon behind you?" The Centro groaned, but surprisingly, it allowed Jed to even add the Wagon Kit. By sheer luck, it seems that fate had blessed this Centro with kindness and understanding for a bit. It is done! He managed to finally place a wagon! He sniffed a bit, "I thought this day would never come." Finally, he was ready to pick up those ponies, and the baby thingummyjig. "Now, all I have to do is prepare. Let's see... I hope they can eat bread. A bit of water... Aha! I'll have to thank Steven for the mangoes." He placed everything that he needed in case the Teleport Matrix ran out of juice. As such, he prepared 8 sleeping bags, rations for 8 people, and finally, food and water for Thorn Charge. "All good to go!" He rarely was a happy man, but his Centro finally letting him add attachments made him almost as happy as his wedding day. "Now then... Let's go." He grabbed his Teleport Matrix and set it on the Teleporters. While the Teleport Matrix was great for easy travels, it simply can't teleport you on an exact location, thus having to rely on the teleporters. He sniffed, spat at the ground, and drank some water. "Here goes." And then they vanished. When they conjured at the Teleporter, they immediately went towards the cave. Luckily, it was close to them. A few walks and they should make it back at Dinoville, safe and sound. He's just hoping, even praying, that the Teleporters don't fail this time. "God, I should've told them to fix the Teleporters ASAP." "These emeralds are absolutely divine!" Rarity said. The group managed to find crystals just around the cave. Though, with those crystals, they saw bones. Choosing not to panic, with the help of Twilight's explanation as well, they decided to ignore the bones and just explore a bit more. Of course, they stayed near the cave, should the tall being come back for them. It had been 54 minutes. They've encountered a few more animals, although, what they've encountered were no longer dinosaurs. They've encountered a few tiger-like creatures with long fangs and one elderly rhino. Fluttershy, recognizing the similarities of these creatures, decided to observe them. Curious, Twilight simply stood near Fluttershy as she decided to make mental notes about the similarities of said creatures. Pinkie saw a few cubs and simply scooped them up, much to the chagrin of Fluttershy. Rainbow, on the other hoof, was bored and simply threw rocks at the wall of the cave. Applejack simply decided to take a nap; she was done for the day. First, she got teleported to some unknown place. Next, she had to travel without food and water, only resting on this tiny cave. Finally, she got bonked in the noggin by some weird ostrich. It was luck that saved them from those guys, but gosh darn it, she's had the worst end of the stick. Just then, a loud groan echoed. It was one of those reptiles with a long horn, only this time, it was bigger. Much bigger. This woke up Applejack and alerted everypony. It was pulling something on its back, and by the looks of it, a caravan. "He returned!" Spike said, jumping up and down. He was also holding onto the Coelo like a stuffed animal as it tried to nibble on him. The rest followed suit as the large rhino-like reptile marched towards their direction. "Well, it seems your all still in one piece." Jed said, hopping off the Centro and opening the caravan. And with a blink of an eye, everypony, and even a baby dragon and a baby Coelo, sat inside the caravan. "Right..." Not even bothering to question how they got there, he pointed at the crate inside the caravan. "There's a few rations there if y'all are hungry." "OOH THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" Pinkie said at the top her lungs. They all said their thanks and dug into their meals. Fresh fruit and bottles of water, even a jar filled with juice, awaited them. He chuckled and immediately hopped on the Centro. He tried to teleport, unfortunately, it did not work. "Well, guess we'll have to go the old fashioned way." He grumbled to himself. Twilight noticed this but simply held onto it. She was hungry, after all. And thus, the journey began. They traversed the scorching desert, encountered a few bounty hunters along the way, and even saw a few flying bat-like things on the horizon. It was mostly quiet, namely because of the tall creature riding the "Re-rhino", a name given to the Centrosaurus by Pinkie Pie since it looked like a reptile rhino. The wind then became harsh as a sand storm approached them. The ponies panicked, yet the tall creature and the Centro pushed on as if it didn't bother them. Sand got inside the caravan, much to the chagrin of Rarity. They then crossed a valley pass, a few Parasaurolophus grazing on the small trees. The ponies gasped at the sight of the majestic creatures. One of the older Paras even went near the caravan, allowing itself to be caressed by the ponies and the young dragon. With a mighty roar, the other Parasaurs ran alongside the caravan, impressing everypony. The Centro then roared as he ran. Upon reaching a nearby oasis, thunder clouds appeared and heavy rain poured. It did little to stop the caravan. The Centrosaurus even roared when Fluttershy, who was worried for the re-rhino, tried to stop them, making Fluttershy cower after that encounter. Eventually, after a few minutes, the rain stopped and they all saw the sun setting in the horizon. It was beautiful and serene. Then, another herd of those re-rhinos appeared. Noticing that it was the same herd, Fluttershy flew out a bit and decided to pet the babies. This made Jed stop and take a break. "Uhm... excuse me, but... what are they called, exactly? If you don't mind me asking." Fluttershy asked, nuzzling the baby as Jed got off the grumpy Centro. "That right there is a Centrosaurus. Stubborn creatures, they are, I'll tell you that." She thanked the creature and flew back to the rest of the herd, now knowing what they are. Noticing that night is approaching, he called out to the pegasus and continued the trek. Night came and Jed steered the huffing Centro to a nearby cliff-face. "We'll set up camp here." He ordered. And within a few minutes, the camp was made, thanks to an eager Applejack and an excited Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie helped as well, granted, she only placed down the sleeping bags. Twilight, itching to ask this tall creature some questions, decided to walk towards him as he fed the Centro. However, all she got was a nibble from the baby Coelo, making the tall creature chuckle. "She likes you, huh?" Twilight then stared at the tall creature. "She?" "Female Coelophysis often nibble a lot when they're babies. Males just simply scratch." Twilight simply nodded. She was about to speak when she was cut off. "Alright, we'll talk in the morning. You all best get some rest." Annoyed, Twilight wanted to protest, only to find that most of her friends are already sleeping. Even the unicorn mare, who was aghast at the idea of filth in her mane, slept so peacefully. Perhaps it was for the best. Sleep is indeed essential, after all.