"Visitor vehicles are returning to the garage." Vinyl said as she leaned back from her console.
Filthy rich sighed. So much for our first tour. he thought.
"Don't worry" Octavia said. "It could've been a lot worse." She gave Filthy Rich a slight pat on the back. Whooves glanced up, then back down to his screen. He typed 'begin protocol: feeny_rabbit.obj'. a new window appeared. 'Begin White Rabbit Protocol?' He brought up a stop watch set to count down from 20 seconds. He pressed 'Execute'. He then got from his console and spoke to the other ponies in the room.
"Anybody want a soda or something? I'm gonna head to the machine. The system is still compiling. Some minor systems may blink on and off, but it's nothing to worry about." The others nodded to him and he then left the room and smiled deviously. Walked down the hallway until he was out of sight of the control room and slipped around the corner into the lab. He came to a small cooler, about the size of a walk-in closet. He stood back out of sight of the security camera that swiveled on the ceiling, He began to count.
"Five...Four...Three...Two...One"
There was a hiss as the locks disengaged and the door slid open. The camera shut off and he walked inside calm and collectively. He pulled a shaving cream canister from his saddlebags and unscrewed the bottom; revealing a hidden compartment with 15 small slots circling the base. He approached two large pylons in the center of the room. He pulled the handle on one and lifted it, exposing racks of embryos. He took one of each. The theft only took less than a minute. All he had to do now was take the canister to his contact who was meeting him at the east dock. He would proceed there, get paid, come back, set the park straight and no one would be the wiser.
Whooves never liked working for Filthy Rich. In all honesty, he thought his boss was a jerk and his pay was laughable. So, when the opportunity arose to screw Filthy Rich over, he practically jumped at the chance. He took everything into consideration. The time needed, the "program compile", and where his contact needed to be. He thought of everything except this damn storm. He walked into the garage past the rows of tour vehicles to the gasoline powered jeep. He climbed in and noticed two metal cylinders in the floorboard of the passenger seat. Looks like a couple of rockets he thought as he motored out of the garage and into the darkness and the pouring rain.
__________Control__________
"What the hell?" Vinyl said as she looked around the room.
"What's going on?" Filthy Rich asked
"Security systems are shutting down." Vinyl said
"Well, Whooves said that some systems may go offline." Octavia said. It was then that the large map in the center of the room began to blink rapidly with red text scrolling atop the screen. 'WARNING! CATASTROPHIC POWER FAILURE'
"What now?" Filthy Rich said with a worried tone.
Vinyl now began to type rapidly. "Fences are failing all over the park!"
"WHAT!? Find Whooves! Get that slob in here now!" Filthy Rich yelled in fury.
MonoChrome looked outside to see the rows of flood lights shut off and engulf the island in darkness. He turned away from the window just missing the sight of headlights going down the road. "The raptor fences aren't out are they?" he asked
"No, they're still on." Vinyl said, still glued to the monitor.
"Why would he turn the other ones off?" Octavia asked.
"I'll have that bastard's head for this!" Filthy Rich growled.
"Where did the vehicles stop?" Chrome asked Vinyl.
__________Tour__________
The rain drummed heavily on the roof of the tour vehicles, matched only by the bleating of the goat that was still chained to the post. They had been sitting there for about ten minutes now. Caramel kept trying to raise the control room from his radio, but was only getting static, because of the storm most likely. Apple Bloom wore the night vision goggles and gazed eagerly around in the darkness,
"These are really cool!" She said
"Well, hurry up! I want a turn" Sweetie said
"In a minute" Apple Bloom said as she looked outside toward the fence. What if she got to see the Rex through these? That'd be cool! A real thrill! She looked to the sides of the car, then out the front, then out the back towards the second car, when she caught a glimpse of something darting across the road.
"Woah!" Apple Bloom said.
"What?" asked Caramel.
"I saw something go across the road."
"Really?"
The radio crackled. "Caramel, did you guys see that?" It was Twilight.
"I just caught a glimpse. Did you see it?" AB asked.
"Only for a second. It's too dark." Twilight replied.
Apple Bloom then realized that something wasn't quite right about the situation. Like something was wrong, Something missing. The goat was quiet. She whipped the goggles around to face the fence with a florescent green blur. The goat was gone. That could only mean one thing. She searched the other side of the fence to see if she could see the rex. She searched, but to no avail. She then realized that she was looking too low. She craned her head upwards and then she saw it. A huge square head a midst the foliage. It stood motionless; its' eyes glowing in the green of Apple Blooms goggles. She felt a chill run down her back.
"Holy shit." She heard Caramel say under his breath. She then heard the sound of a door opening then splashing foot steps. She whirred around to look.
"He just left us!" Sweetie yelled.
"Why? It's not like-" She stopped as she glanced back at the Rex. Then she realized what it was doing. Its' muscular two-digit hand was grasping the fence. The power was out! The fence wasn't electrified! She heard the sound of creaking metal as the huge figure stepped on the fence. The cables snapped as the rex bit down on them. The severed cables flew left and right revealing a space for the rex to casually walk through. It stepped out with a large boom that shook the cars. It bellowed in triumph. An ear splitting roar that struck fear well down into your very being. The four all sat motionless in disbelief and fear as the large animal lumbered further out of it's enclosure.
"Sometimes... I really hate being right all the time." Pinkie said in almost a whisper; eyes wide.
The big animal began to slowly walk towards the first car.
Apple Bloom watched in horror as the rex approached. The door! she thought.
"Sweetie! Close the door!" She yelled. The rex was right next to the car now. It sniffed the air and growled. Sweetie jumped into the driver seat and slammed the door closed. The animal's head snapped in the direction of the noise and peered into the car; watching the girls. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sat motionless, quivering in fear. The rex gave a growl, took a deep breath and roared. It was deafening, so much in fact that both the girls covered their ears in response. The Rex began to rock the car with it's snout. The girls began to scream. The big head went up out of view, then it's big foot swung up and struck the car sending it skidding across the road. The girls felt the world spinning and heard the sounds of glass shattering and the sounds of sharp teeth scraping across metal. It had kicked them then picked the car up in it's mouth! The whole car! Sweetie Belle screamed, tears streaming down her face. Apple Bloom looked out the window only to see the ground 15 feet below. Then she felt an odd sensation, almost like floating. It was then she realized that the rex had threw them! They struck the ground with a loud clang! Then Apple Bloom saw darkness.
______________________________________________
"Sweet Celestia! We have to help them!" Applejack yelled as she searched the car for something to help. She opened the glove compartment and found two road flares and stepped out of the right side of the car. She ran forward and stopped.
"HEY!" She screamed at the rex. The Animal looked in her direction , but it didn't seem to notice her. The rain came down heavy upon AppleJack, but she held her ground. She lit the flare and waved it around. "GET AWAY FROM THERE YOU VARMIT!" She threw the flare beyond the fence. The huge animal went to investigate the flare , but Twilight got out of the car holding her own flare in her magic.
"HEY! HEY! HEY!" She yelled, trying to get the attention of the rex. Twilight ran and the rex pursued.
"TWILIGHT FREEZE!" AJ yelled.
"GET THE KIDS!" Twi screamed in response, over the rain and crashing footsteps. Twilight ran with the rex in close pursuit. Rainbow dash got out to assist Twilight, but as she got out of the car the Rex was right beside her. The large carnivore raised her leg and kicked dash; leaving three bloody gashes across her side. Dash hit the ground with a scream of pain and quickly rolled under the car. The Rex tried to grab her but Twilight ran to her rescue. "HEY! OVER HERE!" She yelled trying to get its' attention. The big head swung quickly around and scooped Twilight up in it's mouth. She felt the powerful jaws squeeze tightly around her body. A few teeth punctured her side as the rex began to shake her. This is it... The end of Twilight Sparkle... she thought. but then she felt the rex release its' grip and she went flying. She felt the spaceless sensation of free fall take her then the wet smack of leaves and the hard scrape of branches... Then she slowly lost consciousness.
Applejack bucked a big rock and it smacked hard against the back leg of the animal.
"YOU WANT A MEAL, YOU GOTTA WORK FER IT!" She screamed. The rex was now irate and charged at AppleJack.
"WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU DOING!? WE HAVE TO RUN NOW!" Pinkie said as she grabbed AJ and ran into the jungle, with the Rex in close pursuit.
__________Whooves__________
The jeep whirred down the muddy path until he came to a gate labeled 'DANGER 10,000 VOLTS' but Whooves got it open with a gentle push. He got back into the jeep and continued. He was running late I should have been there by now.. he thought. They were probably starting to miss him at the control room. He had better start to think of an explanation for whe-- a large concrete wall appeared in the path and he stomped hard on the brakes forcing him to slide. He stopped just inches from the wall. He sighed in relief. He didn't remember any walls on the route.
He got out to see if he could further establish his position. He climbed over the small wall and looked down a steep embankment and he heard the gurgle of water. The river! he thought. He was at the river! That was way off course! He'd have to double back and find the right road. He was only a few minutes late, so he could make it if he hurried. "You're in it deep now, Whooves" he said to himself. As if answering him, he heard the soft hoot of an owl in the distance.
He clambered back over the wall and then stopped. He heard the hooting again. Only closer now. Come to think of it, that didn't really sound like an owl. He felt a chill run up his spine as he ran back to the car. He heard foliage snap and rustle to his side, and then he saw it. A ten-foot tall, mottled green animal stood there waiting for him. He stood frozen in fear, He couldn't remember what the animal was called because he never took the tour, but there was something about those red crests on top of its' head that gave him an uneasy feeling.
The animals head cocked back and Whooves felt a wet smack against his chest. He looked down to see what had hit him and he saw a frothy white substance. It spat on me! he thought as he gave a disgusted look. He looked back up and then he saw stars as the frothy white liquid flowed down his face. It spit in his eyes! His eyes stung and burned. He wiped what he could from his face and opened his eyes. Nothing. He saw nothing but white.
He was blind! It had blinded him! He stumbled aimlessly, swinging his hooves and shouting. "GET BACK!" He felt a sharp pain slash at his stomach. He grabbed his gut and fumbled with something warm and slimy. He was holding his intestines He fell to the ground and his head hit something cold and scaly. The animal's foot. Then he felt a new sensation. A kind of sharp pressure around his skull. He felt a kind of peace and serenity over take him. He suddenly didn't care what happened. He just had one last wish as he breathed his final breath: That it would all be over soon.