After some time, the stormfront passed over the island, leaving much clearer skies and a hot sun in its wake. The sun beat down and as Twilight and Fluttershy made their way through the jungle, it began to steam before their very eyes. The rainwater that had begun to evaporate created a beautiful spectacle as the two mares continued on.
They hadn’t talked much as they made their way along the trail, trying to keep as quiet as possible. As the rains had passed, the island had come to life: the mares could now properly hear the sounds of distant dinosaurs gracefully calling to one another. They could hear crickets in the trees and on the ground, the occasional hooting from birds high above in the canopy. The threat of attack was ever-present, but the two had certainly relaxed a lot since their arrival some hours earlier.
“This is fantastic,” Fluttershy finally said, breaking the recent spell of silence between them. “This would be a wonderful place to visit under different circumstances.”
“Safer circumstances, yeah.” Twilight nodded. “I just wish we’d be able to conduct some field research without being hunted...”
“We might meet a friendlier species,” Fluttershy replied quickly. “I’m going to keep confident for now.”
The pair trotted on through the jungle. The trail had remained quite wide since entering it, though the further along they had come, the more signs of recently activity there were. Fluttershy had noticed that more bark from the trees had been stripped, and many of the low-lying ferns and shrubs had been destroyed. She’d seen this before: during her expedition to the African savannah with Harding she’d used signs like these to track herds of zebra and other such animals. It was indicative of herbivores which put her mind to ease hugely – she guessed they were following a herd’s old track rather than a carnivore’s hunting trail.
“Fluttershy, you see that?”
She came to a stop and turned to Twilight. “See what?” Immediately she tensed up but didn’t panic – Twilight hadn’t sounded frightened herself...
“Over there, just behind those vines... I think it’s... some sort of hut?”
Fluttershy followed Twilight’s gaze. It was quite difficult to see but sure enough, some thirty feet from the trail was a very well-hidden outhouse.
The duo picked their way through the thick brush and approached the old shack. It was a small brick shed with a flimsy-looking corrugated iron roof. The windows were clouded with dirt and the door, though chained shut, was hanging off of all but one hinge.
“Wow,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t think this has been used in years...”
“We have to get inside,” came a determined call from Twilight. “There could be something useful in here!”
Fluttershy went around to the side as Twilight examined the door. Vines and shrubs had claimed the side wall, covering most of its face. The exposed surface was itself caked in dirt but beneath the grime there was faint lettering. Using her wings, she dusted what she could off of the wall before pulling some of the vines back.
“Come look at this, Twilight,” she called and within seconds both of them were looking at the wall.
“’Northeast quarter, hut zero-five’... we must be going in the right direction if we’re in the islands northeast quarter!”
“Oh, there’s a bit more behind here...” Fluttershy pulled back more foliage.
‘Ten kilometres to InGen Compound’
“We’re headed in the right direction,” Twilight said. “We’re getting there!” Her spirits lifted – finally they were seeing progress. “Now let’s see if we can get in here.”
The pair made their way back to the door and Twilight went right up to it. “I wonder...” she began, raising a hoof and pressing on the chain. It didn’t take much; she pressed a little harder and the rusty chain gave way and snapped. As a result, the door groaned and began to fall off of its final hinge. Twilight quickly jumped backwards as the door collapsed in a cloud of dust with a dull thud. It crumbled as it hit the ground – it was rotten to the core.
“Well, we’re in...”
The dust settled and tentatively, the pair stepped inside.
“Oh, my... This place is a mess!”
The doorway spilled light into the small hut and the first thing the mares noticed was the absolute dereliction. The floor was covered in loose tools, fungi, shrubs and rubble. All of the shelving was coated in dust or abandoned hardware; there were empty bottles, food packets and cans. At the far end there was a small bunk, itself ruined; the mattress was unusable and the sheets stained.
“This is...quaint,” Fluttershy said slowly as Twilight began clearing the shelves. “This must have been a warden’s outhouse. Perhaps they used to send wardens out to check on the dinosaurs?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Twilight replied somewhat absently. She was clearly absorbed in her task. “But why would there be a hut here? There’s got to be a radio, or a computer, or something of use in here, especially if it is a warden’s hut...”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes and left Twilight to it – she was talking more to herself. She made her way carefully to the old bed when something caught her eye. On a small cabinet alongside the bed sat a small, worn notebook and beneath it – importantly – a map. She picked them both up and sat down on the bed, careful not to collapse it any more than it was. Setting the map down, she opened the notebook.
Just as she’d expected, a lot of the pages were unreadable. The ink had run, or the pages were too torn and stained. But she flicked through, occasionally coming across passages that could be read...
August 19th, 1993
Word came through last night that Jurassic Park suffered a major breakdown... Dinosaurs got out, people were killed. Apparently that included Hammond. They bombed the island. Not really sure where that leaves the rest of us workers here on Site B. There’s a meeting tomorrow in the village which we all need to attend... Will know more then.
“Keep going,” Twilight said. At some point she’d sat down next to Fluttershy and was reading over her shoulder.
August 20th, 1993
The meeting was shambolic. The boss said we’re to stay here on the island until further notice. They’ve got all contact to the outside world on complete lockdown. Why? Because nobody knows what to do yet. There are all these dinosaurs just roaming around. They were meant to go to Jurassic Park. Now the boss here’s been told to wait until he hears anything from InGen’s top brass, but from what I can gather there’s a clusterfuck up there. Now Hammond’s dead, nobody knows who’s in charge. I heard Hammond’s nephew Ludlow was number one choice for successor...
August 24th, 1993
Another meeting today. Boss says Ludlow has taken place as CEO. Never met the guy but he’s got a world of shit to deal with: all of InGen’s investors have pulled out. Every last one. Weirdly, Ludlow insisted we stay on the island and keep all systems running. Dunno what they’ve got planned up there.
Fluttershy turned the page to find a completely unreadable passage. She kept flicking through but page after page was useless. Eventually, she came across more notes, and the duo read on.
October 15th, 1993
Storm season has set in, we’ve been stuck on the island. Dinosaurs are healthy. All systems still running. Got some major meeting tomorrow, a big update on the situation. At least they’re trying to communicate with us.
October 16th, 1993
Ludlow visited the island with some government officials. Christ... We were all forced to sign a secrecy act. Nobody is to know anything about what we’ve done... what we’re doing. Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna are to become secrets.
Then Ludlow says we are to stay on the island. Still. All shipping routes are closing down and there will be helicopter visits to provide supplies for the workers...
More useless pages.
“This is unsettling,” Twilight uttered.
November 27th, 1993
That’s it. InGen is bankrupt. The company has no more money and is selling all of its assets, or so we are told. Meanwhile, here on Isla Sorna, we have been ordered to keep all machinery and systems running at one hundred percent. Apparently none of this is being sold off, despite being InGen property... Really confused. No idea what Ludlow’s said to the government, or what strings he’s had to pull. But we’re still on this island. We’re forced to stay. I feel awful for those with families. Apparently their families were informed they’d been killed out here. There was a riot some weeks ago and a few guys were shot. By our superiors. Ludlow’s orders, apparently. This has to remain secret at all costs or so we’re told. And, apparently, because we were the ones still on the island at the time, we’re part of that secret.
“That’s... Oh, my...” Fluttershy trailed off as she flicked on through.
December 25th, 1993
Merry fucking Christmas. I’ve decided to live in this hut, can’t stand the village anymore... Too much like a prison. A few others did the same. There’s not many of us that fled, a lot of the employees stayed in the village. Fuckers. Think they’re hoping they’ll still get off this island. Yeah, good luck with that.
Will need to go back to the village eventually for supplies. Anyone try and get me back to the village will get shot. I’ll shoot them, and feed their corpses to the dinosaurs.
Still all systems here on Sorna are running.
“This is the last entry, here,” she said quietly.
January 12th, 1994
It’s time. Those of us who got away from the village met up last night. We’re gonna do it. We’re gonna sabotage the geothermal power station and hit ‘em where it hurts. Ludlow can ram that one right up his ass.
Not got many shotgun shells left. Had to use a few when they sent a few guards the other day. I left their bodies in the jungle not far from here, I guess the compy’s ate ‘em.
We’re meeting here at midnight. This is it.
Fluttershy closed the diary and dropped it on the bed.
“That was horrible,” she said numbly. “I can’t believe it. I just – I...”
“That explains some of why this place is so shrouded in secrecy...”
“But – why would that Ludlow man keep all of the workers on the island? Like prisoners? Like... Dodgson... kept us...”
The mood chilled at the thought of him.
“I have a bad feeling about that,” Twilight said. “Ludlow must have wanted something from this island, to keep it still running... Right?”
“Oh – well – that could make sense...”
“We need to get to the compound, see if there are any more clues there. Hopefully then we can contact Richard, or somepony else... Anypony...”
“Definitely.” Fluttershy picked up the map, pulling it open. “This’ll help us for sure.”
“Yeah! So... We’re here – looks like this hut is marked up – and there’s the compound. It looks like this trail leads right up to it!”
“We’d better go, I really don’t want to stay here anymore,” Fluttershy said, getting to her hooves. “Is there a satchel we can use in here? We could grab some supplies, if there’s anything useful or not caked in dirt...”
“Er...” Twilight stood, scanning the hut. “Oh! Yeah, there’s this old rucksack here.” She picked it up and flung it on the bed. “I’m not sure how we’ll wear it, though...”
“Oh, that’s not a problem.” Fluttershy picked up a pair of shears, going to work on the backpack. Soon she lifted the sack, now with the straps hanging loose. “You okay to wear it?”
“Yeah,” Twilight answered slowly. She watched as Fluttershy placed it on her back and brought the straps round underneath her. One slip-knot later, and Fluttershy stood up.
“A makeshift saddle-bag,” she said with glee. “I picked up a lot of knot-tying through looking after all the woodland creatures.” She smiled.
“I like it! Very Daring Do. Rainbow Dash would be proud! Now, what to put in it...”
“The map and notebook,” Fluttershy began. “Oh, how about we take two of these empty bottles? We can wash them in the next stream we find and then fill them up. That’ll be good – we don’t want to dehydrate out here. And we should take some of these tools. Oh! And these torches here.”
“Sure,” Twilight replied. Soon enough, the sack was loaded with supplies and the pair stepped back outside.
“Ready, Twilight?”
“Ready,” she replied.
Loaded with supplies the pair felt a little better about their situation, though Twilight’s mind was awash with thoughts of that notebook as they followed the game trail. It raised a number of questions and began to paint a much, much darker picture about InGen and Isla Sorna than she had first anticipated.
* * * *
Periodically, Twilight had taken the map from the rucksack and checked it as the pair followed the trail. They had been walking for about twenty minutes and in that time she’d looked at it five times. After twenty five minutes they stopped again as she inspected the map, opening it upon a felled tree.
“Looks like we’re making ground,” she said aloud, her eyes glued to the map. “I think we’ll need to cut through the jungle soon though... The trail swings round to the left here and we want to go straight ahead. Does that sound okay?”
No response.
“...Fluttershy?”
Twilight looked up; Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen.
Her chest tightened and her eyes widened. “Oh, no...” She quickly stashed the map and cantered around the corner in the trail.
“Fluttersh—”
Twilight came to an abrupt stop and gasped. Fluttershy was in the centre of the trail, slightly hunched. And in front of her, roughly the same size as a pony, stood an infant Triceratops.
“It’s okay,” Fluttershy said quietly, keeping the animals’ gaze. “He’s quite friendly! Aren’t you, you little adorable thing...” She stroked the baby’s head and it trumpeted happily.
Twilight was taken aback. Sure, she knew Fluttershy had a keen ability with animals. Everypony knew that. But these weren’t animals in the truest sense – they were clones. She’d not really known if Fluttershy would be able to communicate effectively with cloned prehistoric animals but clearly that wasn’t an issue.
Her heart warmed and a smile grew. “That’s the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Twilight beamed.
“Come on over, I think he’d be quite happy to say hello.”
Twilight did just that. She took slow, careful steps towards the baby. She didn’t want to frighten it. As she got within three feet of it, it began to honk and squeak.
“It’s okay little one,” Fluttershy cooed. “Twilight’s our friend. She won’t hurt you.” She continued to stroke the baby and she felt it relax.
“Can – can I touch it?”
“Just go slowly, but I think he’ll let you play.” Fluttershy rubbed the baby’s chin. “Look! Twilight’s come to say hello.”
By now Twilight was stood alongside Fluttershy, face-to-face with an animal that hadn’t existed in sixty five million years. Truly, the number was mind-boggling; the history of Equestria was told in thousands of years, but not millions. When she thought of the princesses’ defeat of Discord and subsequent reign, her mind spun. But this little animal that stood in front of her roamed Earth millions of years ago... It was almost too much.
She reached out, her hoof trembling, and then she made contact with the top of the baby’s head. She began to stroke it and it gurgled in delight.
“Wow,” she said breathlessly. “This is incredible beyond belief.”
“Isn’t he the cutest little thing?”
Twilight felt her mane stand on end. She was touching a living dinosaur! Princess Celestia would love to hear about this.
“Where are your parents, little one?” Fluttershy asked softly as she scratched the baby’s chin. It nuzzled into her hoof before throwing its head back and letting out a surprisingly loud call. Immediately Twilight tensed up, not expecting the little dinosaur to be quite so loud, but Fluttershy was unfazed. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Just keep stroking him, he likes it.”
“O-okay,” she replied. She stroked its head, running her hoof over its tiny, stumpy horns. They’d not yet developed but they just added to the baby’s cuteness. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle.
At that moment, the baby Triceratops turned around and honked. It began to trot away as the pair heard foliage brushing and crashing.
Twilight spoke in hushed measures, her panic rising. “Fluttershy, I think we should go now.”
Immediately the foliage from around the trail gave way as, before them and the infant animal, came a herd of adult Triceratops.
“They’re... big,” came Fluttershy’s reply. “Let’s just give them some room.”
The pair pulled back as the Triceratops herd lumbered closer. They stood at the tree line as the baby reconnected with the lead adult. They watched the herd. The lead animal – the matriarch, as Fluttershy pointed out – was bigger than the others following it, and quite badly scarred on her face. One of her horns was missing its tip, and her enormous frill was scratched. Despite her size, she was as delicate as both Fluttershy and Twilight had been moments earlier with the baby, nuzzling it and letting out a soft, rumbling call.
“Oh, they’re just like elephants,” Fluttershy whispered. “This is amazing...”
They continued to watch as the herd stopped, spilling out slightly into the jungle where there was room. Many of the Triceratops were feeding, others socialised and rested. The pair could see a small number of infants in the centre of the group though these were all larger than the baby they’d just found. The little animal continued to socialise with the matriarch.
Then it turned, and trotted towards the pair, honking at them. The little infant came right up to the pair, and nervously Twilight reached out to stroke him.
As she raised her hoof, the matriarch bellowed causing Twilight and Fluttershy to jump, which in turn upset the little Triceratops. It honked, itself fazed by the noise and commotion.
“It’s okay sweetie,” Fluttershy called softly. “It’s all okay.”
The little infant honked and made its way back to the centre of the herd as the matriarch slowly moved towards the pair, making her presence very well-known. The great animal stopped about fifteen feet away from the mares and bellowed again.
“She thinks we’re a threat,” Twilight whispered nervously. “We really should go.”
“S-She’s doing what any good mother would do,” Fluttershy replied. “If it’s okay, stay still for a moment. I need to talk to her.”
“Fluttershy!—” Twilight cut herself off. She knows what she’s doing. “Just be careful.”
The matriarch continued to bellow. She swung her head from side to side and flushed her frill, creating a vibrant display of colour. Clearly this was designed to intimidate any threats and it was working. Both ponies were frightened by the matriarch’s strong display.
Fluttershy drew a deep breath before slowly making her way back out onto the trail. At this, the matriarch Triceratops began to growl, lowering her head. Fluttershy stopped just in front of the tree line, mustering up the courage to speak.
“We found the little infant on his own,” she began softly, loud enough to be heard but quiet enough so as not to upset the animal. “We’re not here to hurt you, we promise.”
The matriarch let out a short call. She stopped swinging her head around, instead now looking at Fluttershy. Her frill remained flushed.
“I can understand why you might think we’re a threat, but we’re friends,” Fluttershy continued with a warm smile. “If you like, we’ll give you and your herd plenty of room to pass on by,” she said as she backed off slightly, gesturing down the trail.
The matriarch grunted, raising her head slightly. Her frill drained of its vivid display. She let out a few short grunts before calling loudly.
Fluttershy rejoined Twilight who had gone silent. “They’re going to pass by,” she whispered. “Let’s just give them plenty of room.”
With that, the herd mobilised once more. They began to plod along the trail. As the matriarch passed the pair, she seemed to bow her head with a grunt before leading her herd onwards, an act which both mares subconsciously returned. They stood absolutely still as the rest of the Triceratops passed by. There were only about eight animals; the herd was quite small. The matriarch led, followed by two other larger animals. Behind them, the infants. As they passed by, the baby honked and looked over towards them and they waved back, saying “goodbye!” softly. Bringing up the rear of the herd were two adult animals.
They watched the herd make its way down the trail, waiting until they could no longer see them before stepping out from the trees.
“That was magical,” Twilight said. “I’m almost left speechless!”
“It was really something.” Fluttershy had the biggest grin on her face. “How adorable was the little baby!”
“I can’t believe how well they interacted with you! The matriarch understood you so well.”
“I can hardly believe it myself,” Fluttershy agreed. “Sometimes it takes me a while to understand new species but as soon as I said hello to the little one I knew I could speak to them. Then when the herd came over... The matriarch was so big. I didn’t think she’d attack us but she was certainly very threatened by us.”
“I felt quite threatened by her,” Twilight admitted.
“She was just looking after her young. She was frightening to start with, but I knew that once I explained everything to her, we’d be okay. But – oh my – did you see her frill? She was beautiful!”
“I’m a little star-struck right now! Wow... When they’re not trying to attack you, these dinosaurs are incredible. Once we get back to Equestria, we’ll definitely need to tell Princess Celestia about this place. That is, if—” Twilight paused. “Who knows what Ludlow, or Dodgson for that matter, had planned with the dinosaurs here. I just hope that by the time all this is over, this place is left alone and they can roam free.”
“I’d like that,” Fluttershy agreed. “Hopefully all the dinosaurs will be okay...”
“Hopefully so. Now, let’s keep going shall we? The sooner we get to the InGen compound, the better.”
“Right behind you, Twilight. Lead the way!”
With one final quick check of the map, the two ponies began their trek once more. Feeling energised and motivated by their recent encounter, they moved quickly and confidently – they were making good ground towards the compound, ever closer to making contact with the outside world. With that very much in mind, they pressed on.
* * * *
Grigorii had made himself quite comfortable in the penthouse provided by Ludlow for his stay. Costa Rica was a gorgeous country and the main balcony looked out across the dense jungles, barely a sign of human interference in sight. It reminded him of Equestria’s more tropical climes, the more remote, relaxing corners of their homeworld. Content, he put away another whiskey. Human liquor is of a good standard indeed...
His mind wandered once again to his satellite-uplink conversation with the Tsar. It had been long and intense but genuinely thrilling. Grigorii felt positively alive relaying the details of Ludlow’s business and proposition to Gavrel; of the towering presence and electric impact of these ancient Earth-monsters. The Tsar seemed very receptive to his input. He had commented that Grigorii relayed his sighting enthusiastically – and that “if this is the reaction of one Griffon, we can only imagine the nationwide response.”
They had talked further about the finer details, exploring the logistical issues of construction and nurturing the various species; Grigorii passing to his king Ludlow’s assurances that this would be of little problem. At each turn of discussion the Tsar was enthuastic and forthcoming, despite still not having seen a living dinosaur with his own eyes. The Duke raised this point and with immediacy a discourse began to arrange a viewing. Ludlow was contacted and a three-way satellite conference began. After quite some time an agreement was reached that would satisfy all parties. Ludlow would finally meet Gavrel in person and lock down a deal. And the Griffons got their request fulfilled: To see the largest and most vicious species that InGen was producing, in the flesh.
Yes, Grigorii thought to himself. This will be the most excellent few days ahead. With that, he fixed himself another shot of whiskey and, toasting Tsar Gavrel of All Griffonkind in his head, he sank the drink.