Jurassic Ponies

by BeardyPie

The Park

The control room was dark and the whir of computers filled the air. Vinyl Scratch watched the monitor that showed the two pale green Ford Explorer tour vehicles pull in front of the visitor's center. She glanced at the big glass map at the center of the room, then to Whooves who entered data onto his keyboard. She noticed how messy his work station was. geez what a slob.. she thought. She always tried to avoid him as much as she could. There was just something about him that she didn't like, although she could never quite put her hoof on what it was.

The door to the control room hissed open as MonoChrome and Filthy Rich entered.

"The coast guard is tracking a tropical storm. I wouldn't worry though, it may swing south like the last one did." Chrome said as he approached one of the monitors.

Filthy rich walked to Vinyl Scratch as he wondered why he didn't build in Las Haygas. "Ms. Scratch, start the tour program if you'd please." Scratch nodded as she typed on her keyboard then spoke into a microphone.

_________________________________________________________________________

The speakers inside the cruisers crackled as Vinyl Scratch spoke. "If you'd all kindly pile into the vehicles, we can begin the tour." Rarity, Caramel, AppleJack, and the foals sat in the first vehicle while the rest all piled into the second vehicle.

"Please, keep all limbs inside the vehicle and keep the doors closed while the vehicle is in motion." Said a prerecorded voice.

"My goodness!" Rarity said, instantly recognizing the voice. "Is that Sapphire Shores?"

Filthy Rich spoke through the intercom. "Why yes it is! We spared no expense."

The cars lurched forward with an electric hum and set en route down the road towards the jungle.

"So" Dash began as she looked at Pinkie. "Why do you think the park is destined to fail?"

"Because of the sheer ignorance these people possess." Pinkie said.

Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged glances.

"What do you mean 'ignorance'?" Fluttershy asked "They seem pretty well prepared for whatever these animals can do."

"For starters, the fact that they claim that every animal in the park is female. Which I completely doubt. I mean you can't exactly go into the park and pull up the dinosaur's skirts and have a look just to make sure."

"But they said they altered the hormones of the embryo and all the animals come through the lab. So I would say that they have a pretty good idea of the gender of the animals." Twilight said.

"Next comes to the island itself. It's far too small to harbor a vast majority of animals."

"I'm sure they didn't clone an unreasonable amount of animals.... Unless you're suggesting that a group consisting entirely of female animals will breed." Fluttershy said giving pinkie a skeptical look.

"All I'm saying is simply life finds a way."

The cars silently stopped in front of the first enclosure. Sapphire's voice sounded through the car speakers.

"The first animal on our tour is dilophosaurus!" Apple Bloom got excited and pressed her nose against the window as Sapphire continued. "One of the earliest carnivores, we now know that dilophosaurus is poisonous. It spits venom from it's mouth much like a cobra and can cause blindness and eventually paralysis. Needless to say please keep the windows closed!"

"I don't see anything" Rarity said. They remained silent for a moment.

"There" Sweetie said, pointing. "Under the tree!"

Underneath the tree Sweetie indicating was a clump of bushes partially hiding a four-foot tall animal with two red crests on the top of the head. It was mottled green with faint black tiger-type stripes along its back. It stood motionless.

"What's wrong with it?" Applejack asked.

"They just haven't got used to the sight of the tour vehicles yet." Caramel explained.

"Are there any fully grown ones?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yes, but they generally stay close to the river." Caramel said.

"Wait, y'mean that one ain't even fully grown? How big do they get?" Applejack asked.

"The largest skeletons found were about ten feet tall." Apple Bloom explained.

"That's right" Caramel confirmed giving Apple Bloom a smile "You sure seem to have dinosaurs on the brain."

Apple Bloom blushed and looked at the floor. The cruisers lurched forward and continued the tour. Upon seeing the vehicles move the Dilophosaur darted back into the jungle.

The vehicles continued down the road then came to a ridge that over looked the plains below.

"If you look to the left, you may catch a glimpse of a herd of our three horned dinosaurs, Triceratops!" Sapphire Shores said. The passengers all looked out to the left of the car but saw nothing.

"It's pretty hot out right now, so they've probably found some shade trees to rest under." Caramel said into a hand held radio so the other car could hear. Fluttershy Grabbed the radio in her cruiser.

"How do the animals fair against the predators?"

"Oh we don't integrate predator animals with the herbivores. As you can imagine, that'd be a disaster! Not to mention costly." Caramel said

"Then what do they eat?" Twilight asked.

"We keep a stock of goats and other livestock here on the island."

"What would happen if one of the larger carnivores were to get out?" Fluttershy asked.

"I assure you that won't happen," Caramel began "we take extreme precautions, especially when it comes to our Rex. The fences surrounding the Tyrannosaur paddock have 10,000 volts of electricity coursing through them and a ten-foot deep by twenty foot wide concrete moat separating him and the sauropods."

The vehicles slowed to a stop in front of the next enclosure.

"Ah, speaking of which." Caramel said.

"Our next attraction on our tour is the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex! The king of all dinosaurs" Sapphire Shores said.

That's true Apple Bloom thought, I bet if a rex got into a fight with another theropod, like a Spinosaur, the T-rex would come out on top (*I'm looking at you, JP3 fans...*)

The occupants of the cars looked outward towards a small clearing beyond the fence, eager to catch a glimpse of the Tyrannosaur. Vinyl Scratch came on the radio.

"We'll try and tempt her into coming out, Just keep watching the fence."

An electronic whir sounded as a platform arose from the ground presenting a goat chained to a post.

"Oh no! I can't bear to watch this!" Fluttershy said as she turned away.

Nothing happened. The goat continued to bleat and eventually laid down, hot under the sun.

"Now eventually you might have DINOSAURS on your dinosaur tour, right?" Rarity asked Caramel with a disappointed look on her face. Caramel chuckled.

"The Tyrannosaur is a bit cautious when the tour vehicles come around. She's gotten even more so now that we put the young one in with her." Caramel said.

The Radio crackled followed by Twilight's voice. "You have two rexes?"

"Yes, but the second one is just a juvenile. They seem to keep their distance from each other, but our big girl is still picky as to when she emerges from her cover."

The cars continued on the tour. Pinkie glanced at the goat; still laying in the sun. She scoffed.

"The T-Rex doesn't want to be fed, she wants to hunt."

____________________________Control___________________________________

"That storm hasn't dissipated or changed course. I'm afraid we'll have to cut the tour short and pick back up again in the morning." Chrome said as he entered the control room.

"Where are they now?" Vinyl asked

"Over by the Stegosaurs. Colgate is out there tending to a sick stego." Chrome replied.

Vinyl picked up the receiver and spoke through the loud speakers.

"Attention: This is a storm evacuation. All non-essential personnel need to head to the docks. Drop what you're doing and leave now."

Whooves glanced up at the two and continued to type on his console. A video feed appeared on his screen labeled 'EAST DOCK1' He smiled. "All according to plan"

__________________________Stegosaurs_____________________________

The cool evening air blew as thunder sounded off in the distance.

"She's beautiful!" Fluttershy said as she walked closer to the Stego. The cars had stopped and the passengers all got out to join Colgate and get an up close look at the stego.

"It's all right, you can get closer. MonoChrome tranquilized her for me. She's sick" Colgate said motioning to to others.

"What are her symptoms?" Fluttershy asked as she peered into the animal's mouth.

"She seems to be suffering from Melia toxicity, from the consumption of west indian lilac berries, but there is no trace of berries in the animal droppings. We're stumped, and this happens every six weeks."

"Every six weeks?" Fluttershy asked

"Yes, the Stegosaurs usually make a big loop around their paddock and they reach this point every six weeks and they always seem to get sick when they are in this area." Colgate explained

Fluttershy thought as she walked around the field they were in. Twilight soon joined her.

"What do you think?" She asked Fluttershy.

"There." She pointed at a small pile of stones.

"They're just rocks." Dash said as she flew over to them.

"Yes, but this isn't the only pile like that. Look." She pointed and there was a smattering of small stone piles all around the field. They were worn smooth.

"So? We are by the ocean." Dash said

"I think I see where you're going with this, Fluttershy" Twilight said as she placed a hoof on her chin "Gizzard stones"

"I think so. Yes." Fluttershy said.

Dash rolled her eyes as she went back to talk to AJ and Pinkie.

"I believe I've solved your problem, Doctor" Fluttershy said as she and Twilight returned to Colgate and the Stego.

"Really?" Colgate said

"Yes, as you probably know, the Stegosaurs use gizzard stones to mash up plant matter for easy digestion. When they swallow new stones, they inadvertently swallow the toxic berries. Which would explain the six week intervals and the piles of stones dotting this area." Fluttershy said.

"Huh. I'll be damned." Colgate said, peering to the field. A large crash of thunder echoed across the island.

"Ladies, if you please, I must insist we get moving." Caramel said in a nervous tone.

"Um, if it's okay, I'd like to stay and help Colgate with the Stego." Fluttershy said looking to Colgate for permission.

"Sure, I'm in a gas powered Jeep. I can bring you back to the visitor center once we're done here." Colgate replied.

"I'd like to stay too, if that's okay." Rarity said as she stood by Fluttershy.

"Can I ride back with Apple bloom?" Sweetie asked looking to her sister.

"Of course you can, Sweetie" Rarity smiled. "Just mind Mr. Caramel."

AJ, Pinkie, Dash, and Twilight all climbed into the second car much to the disapproval of the foals. They tried to explain there was no room, and that they had business to discuss. In the end Caramel had to bribe them with the use of the night vision goggles. The foals and Caramel climbed into the first car just as a few droplets of rain drummed on the car and the sun slowly set behind the mountains.

Author's Note:

This was FAR over due, and for that I apologize :( The laziness had taken me hostage.

Comments

[Friday Knight]

Can't wait to see what happens, and who plays what roke

[TheInvincibleIronBrony]

Firts you sparked this. The Spinosaurus's longer arms and snout give it the winning advantage over the T Rex. That being said it still wouldn't have the anatomical knowlegde to think of snapping anythings neck on purpose in order to get a quick kill, plus the T-Rex has thicker bones than most things a Spino would hunt making that feat even more difficult. That fight probably should have lasted longer, but The Rex still would have lost.