“’Close to the compound’,” Thorne said sardonically as the RV pulled up just outside the InGen facility. He stared at Levine. “Learn to interpret a map.”
“It looked close on the GPS. It could have been anyone’s guess.”
“Ah, whatever.” Thorne picked up the radio. “Well, here we are Eddie – want to swing that gate open? We can park up outside the complex.”
“Sure thing,” Carr replied. From aboard the RV, Thorne watched as he and Harding hopped out of their jeep – remaining vigilant in the dark – and opening the heavy gates.
“Before we drive in,” Carr called over the radio, “just want to double-check that you’re not getting any carnivore readings through round here.”
Thorne peered at the GPS readout. There were a few red dots near the complex, but judging by their locations they were all outside of the perimeter fence. To add to that, many of them seemed to be remaining stationary.
“Checks out to me. Let’s park up.”
The convoy trundled through the gates, following the narrow track down the hillside and into the compound forecourt. Thorne swung to the left, parking the RV alongside the perimeter fence as Carr parked the jeep just in front of the RV.
“Finally,” Thorne uttered as he killed the engine. He stood.”Okay! Ian, Richard, get the hell out of my lab and go find those ponies.”
“But – we don’t know where they are—”
“You guys are academics, right? Use your brains. You’re at the islands command centre. You’ll work something out.” Thorne ushered the pair out of the RV before quickly returning with two flashlight-lit rifles. “These might come in handy. You never know.”
“Oh no. No no no,” Levine squawked loudly. He thrust the weapons back towards Thorne. “We won’t be using these.”
“Like hell we won’t,” uttered Malcolm as he grabbed one all too quickly. “I do not condone weapon use, but I know these monsters—”
“—So you keep saying—”
“—And as such I know that I will need this.” For a brief moment he held Levine’s panicked gaze, ending the stalemate with a huff and a turn.
Before Levine had chance to retort, Harding had joined them, Carr in tow. “So,” she said, clutching a radio set. “We gonna check this place out or what?”
“It looks like the Doc has given us no choice.” Malcolm gestured to Thorne. “He’s gonna be busy polishing out that dent back there.”
“Okay. Eddie?”
“Sorry Sarah. I’ll need to lend Jack a hand – we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
“Sure thing. Oh, keep your radio set to hand okay? Just in case.”
“No problem. Good luck.”
“Good luck with fixing the lab!” And with that, Harding, Malcolm and Levine headed for the compound entrance as Thorne and Carr set up the RV’s defence systems and got to work.
Carefully, the trio entered the facility and were immediately hit with the darkness. “Of course,” Malcolm sighed. “Of course the lights would be out in here. Dark outside, dark inside. On an island populated by ancient apex predators.”
“But the power has to be on,” Levine said quickly, sharply. “If we can access the mainframe – and scan the radio chips in the dinosaurs here –that means the computer and radio systems are on: that in itself must mean there’s power. Main, aux, that’s academic. Not to mention the perimeter fence around this place. Did you see the beacons were lit? I’d guess that means power, too.”
“Hopefully.” Malcolm grunted, having heard enough. “Sarah, any sign of...well...anything?”
“Aside this ‘Master Power Control’ lever? Not a lot.” She smirked, pulling the lever.
Nothing happened.
“I get the impression that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Harding flipped it again. The lights remained off.
“I stand by what I said,” Levine added quickly, his voice cracking. “The power has to be on.”
“So that’s it,” Malcolm concluded with a wave of his hand. “No lights. No lights, and no idea of where to go.”
“Actually, we do have lights,” Harding countered as she approached him. Holding onto the rifle’s muzzle, she flipped a switch – and a flashlight activated.
“Oh. Uh, yes, of course.” Malcolm was uneasy. “Well this makes me feel a little better, I think.”
Levine said nothing as he fumbled with his own flashlight.
Leaving the two academics to become acquainted with the weaponry Harding set to work, searching the entrance hall further. It was difficult to see; the only lights coming from Malcolm and Levine who themselves seemed not to have moved very far, tentatively swinging their torches around the area. With a sigh, she turned to them. “I know neither of you are gun guys, and I know we’re all on-edge right now. But are we gonna make an effort to look for Flutters and Twilight?”
Before anyone could speak Levine began to break. “Cast your mind back to earlier today,” he hissed, his own temper boiling over. “You may remember we were attacked by a living Carnotaurus. An actual, real-life, terrifying prehistoric carnivore. Did that not frighten you at all? And now here we are in a disused facility with no lights, no idea what’s really going on here, in a confined space, still at threat!”
“Wow.” Malcolm elicited a chuckle. “The erudite, stout Richard Levine, finally showing some real fire.”
“Surely I can’t be the only one fearing for my life right now?!”
“Richard, calm down.” Harding put a hand on his shoulder. “I think we’re all scared. This place is amazing, that much is true. But it’s also true that we could all quite easily be killed here. We need to keep our wits about us – and we need to keep calm.”
“I – This – Uhh...” Levine faltered, releasing his tension. “I’m sorry. It’s just – all this...”
“Believe me, I know,” Malcolm offered. His ire for Levine was waning. “Of all people I understand your fears. We’re on the same side of the fence as the attractions at the zoo, and they’re all terrifying. We’ve already been attacked and we’ve only encountered one of InGen’s creations.”
“One particularly enraged creation,” Levine uttered.
“Quite. But Richard – listen to me – Sarah is right. We, ah, need to keep our cool if we want to find our two Equestrians, let alone survive. It will save us. Panicking helps nobody. Not to mention that there was no sign of any dinosaurs in and around the complex. Remember the GPS readout? Keep your head; we’ll be okay.”
Levine steadied his breathing, leaning on the reception counter. “Y-Yes. Yes, you’re both right. I’m sorry about all that, I’m not really sure what came over me there.”
“They call it ‘human emotion’,” Harding said with a reassuring smile. “Now, let’s think about making some progress shall we?”
“I’m all for it,” Malcolm began, “but where to go? It’s not as if we know where to head. Let alone the fact we’ve no idea what’s here, or indeed what we’re looking for.”
“We’ll come across something, and – well, hopefully – we’ll know it when we see it. Perhaps a camera room, or a communications centre... I’m not sure.” Levine shrugged, quickly finding his feet and regaining his confidence. “In the meantime – look here, on this wall – there’s a number of laboratories. I’d be quite interested to see exactly how InGen ran their ship here.”
“Let’s do it,” Harding said, heading towards a set of glass double-doors. “It’s not like we have anywhere else to go.” She pushed them open and the trio headed through towards ‘Laboratory 01’.
They entered a long, dark corridor and begun to move along it. It looked very much as they’d expected: a modern facility abandoned and left to the wild. Sprouting from the cracked floor tiles were weeds of all sorts, the walls were stained and worn, and the ceiling tiles peeling from the roof. The place had truly been reclaimed by nature – Malcolm acknowledged a passing thought about the metaphorical nature of this with regards to chaos theory – and almost all signs of human activity had been forgotten. Despite this, the hallways and corridors were well-signposted, and the three were able to navigate the facility with relative success. Spot a sign, brush the vines and dirt away, follow the signs pointing towards the laboratories. It was an effective system and had led the trio close to the facility’s core, but they were presently stopped by something quickly unsettling and entirely unexpected.
Lying widthways across the reasonably narrow corridor was a corpse. Most of the meat had been stripped from it as its ribcage protruded upwards from the ground.
“Looks like trouble,” Malcolm uttered ominously as they approached it.
“W-well it’s good to see the carnivores are hunting well,” Levine added, tripping over his words. He inspected it closer. “Look behind it. Blood.”
“Of course there’d be blood,” Harding replied plainly. “It’s a corpse.”
“No, look.” He pointed over and beyond the carcass. “Lots of blood. Notice how, well, how... fresh the blood trail is.”
He wasn’t wrong. Harding and Malcolm could see it now as the rifle flashlights illuminated the area: there was a prominent blood trail leading shortly down the corridor before stopping. At that point, the wall of the corridor had been burrowed into, a small pile of rubble formed at its mouth.
“This is a fresh kill,” Levine whispered. “A fresh kill that’s been brought here.”
Malcolm remained silent, gripping his rifle tight.
Harding inspected the carcass before them. “What species is this?”
“It, uh... Looks like a young Triceratops,” Levine answered, shaking his anxiety as his academic side shone through. “A famed late cretaceous herbivore as I’m sure you’re both aware. But its only natural predators tended to be Tyrannosaurs, so... I’m a little unsure as to what brought it here. Clearly, no Tyrannosaurus would fit inside this complex.”
“Clearly, you’ve forgotten that this is not a natural place,” Malcolm said with a huff. “None of InGen’s creations are natural. Anything could have killed it and dragged it here.”
“Thank you, Doctor Malcolm,” Levine hissed. “Now, uh, Ian, Sarah, shall we continue? Much though I am beginning to feel very out of my depth, we need to press on.”
“It’s all we can do,” Harding noted.
With heightened apprehension, the trio pressed on, avoiding the gore before them.
* * * *
Fluttershy stifled a yawn as she produced the map. Their passage through the facility had been much more arduous than both she and Twilight had reckoned; as if the complex wasn’t labyrinthine enough already, blocked passageways and overgrown vegetation presented their match. Still, they had pressed on and made good progress nonetheless. It also went against them both that fatigue was setting in. Fluttershy could feel her eyes straining in the dim light of the torch, and her mind was exhausted. But she couldn’t relax yet, she was all too aware that something was still going on here. She and Twilight had seen blood stains, bone scraps, and some well-worn tracks throughout the facility – and all of these signs pointed toward animal activity. No, she couldn’t let her guard down. Not yet...
“We want to go straight across the next intersection,” Twilight said quietly, giving Fluttershy a start and dragging her from her thoughts. “Then we’ll be into the lab.”
“Oh – yes – that’s good.” I need to stay alert...
“Yeah, that is good. The sooner we get to the comms centre and out of this place, the better...” Twilight let out a hollow, empty laugh.
“I think so,” Fluttershy agreed as a chill ran the length of her spine.
The pair rounded the corner slowly, the intersection before them. Beyond it, a flight of stairs that led to the lab and – if the maps were to be believed – the communications tower and backup power generators. They were nearly there, and they both knew this. But they also both felt it. Wordlessly Fluttershy looked across to Twilight; their eyes met and she could see the fatigue written in her features. Twilight looked so exhausted. With a gentle nuzzle Fluttershy leant in, offering strength and warmth – she felt the days’ events all too acutely too, and knew that it’d take a final burst of commitment and energy to be able to get to the relative safety of the comms tower. She saw Twilight smiling tiredly back at her. This was signal enough that she’d helped in at least some way. Returning with a grin of her own, Fluttershy went to move.
She stopped herself before striding too far or too loudly. Something isn’t right. She could feel the tension building and Twilight standing all too closely behind, as if to seek comfort. Holding herself stock-still she waited for a sign, any sign, and it was then that she could hear the awful grunts and throaty gurgles.
Immediately she spun and put a hoof over Twilight’s mouth, herself about to ask why they’d stopped.
“Listen,” she mouthed.
The two ponies fell silent and in the stillness of the facility they made out more sounds. Low, baritone hisses and grunts echoed through the hallways. They were short, angular in sound; they were guttural and they were in the corridor with them.
Twilight’s eyes widened; her heart rate rocketed.
Something else is here.
The vocalisations were coming from either side of the crossways, to the left and right. Straight ahead lay the lab. Either side, the last thing either of them needed: something very much alive, and something that did not sound friendly.
“What do we do?” Twilight mouthed. “Run for it?”
“Can you teleport us?”
Twilight grimaced. “I can’t risk it not working...”
They fell silent once more. The animals didn’t sound as if they’d heard Fluttershy and Twilight approaching; neither did it appear that they had picked up on their scent. Odd, but somewhat reassuring. With that, they backtracked slightly and hid around the corner from which they had just come.
Once away from immediate danger, Fluttershy began to panic, finally unravelling. Her strength had carried the pair this far but she could do it no more. It all became too much. The abduction, the Carnotaurus attack, the fact they were lost on an island nopony had rightly ever heard of, and now this: stuck in a dilapidated, secret facility with some foul monsters. Eyes widened, she began to hyperventilate, barely containing herself. “Twilight, w–what do we do? We need to do this but there are those... things... there... Can we just turn around, find a different way maybe?!”
“It’s okay, come on.” Twilight wrapped her forehooves around Fluttershy. “It’s okay, we’ll—”
Twilight was cut off by a very loud bark. The pair froze, their manes prickling on end as they heard the sound of footsteps padding slowly along the corridor, from left to right. Though the crossways in the corridor was still some twenty feet ahead, the growling and hissing from the creature ahead sounded as if it was right next to them. It was so loud.
“Oh Celestia help us,” Fluttershy whispered as Twilight pulled the pair tight against the wall. She had a horrible, deep-set feeling she knew exactly what creature was filling the halls with blood-curdling barks, and it was all too much.
In a moment of maddening curiosity, Twilight peered ever so slowly around the corner – just enough to see what was there. Using the shadows to her advantage she kept her head in the darkness and she was able to get a good look.
She instantly wished she hadn’t. Before her, its eyes trained along the hallway at something she couldn’t see, stood a creature she instantly recognised. A six-foot tall slender, horrible beast...
Twilight quickly withdrew her head and stared straight ahead at the wall, her eyes wide and glassy. Her breaths came short, shallow.
“Twilight? What is it?”
She began to shake. “A Velociraptor,” she whispered breathlessly.
With a squeak Fluttershy shrank against the wall. “I knew it, oh Celestia I knew it...” She clamped her eyes firmly behind her mane, doing everything in her power to disappear into nothingness.
The sounds of the raptor padding slowly, purposefully, into the corridor echoed all too loudly, and the pair felt their blood run cold. Then, another loud bark. They winced. It was so close.
Twilight gripped Fluttershy tightly. It must know we’re here...
And then, unexpectedly, came another screech from the crossways. Another raptor had made its presence known. To Twilight, it sounded like this one had come from the right-hand corridor.
Straight away the communication between the two animals didn’t convince Twilight and Fluttershy that they were about to become prey items. The two listened intently, remaining on-edge; the dinosaurs were snapping and hissing in curt, sharp bursts, as if trying to quickly outdo one another. Intermittently, a protracted hiss would full the corridors, the sound of sharp talons clicking upon the cold, tiled floor echoing prominently. No, this was not hunting behaviour: Fluttershy had picked up on this immediately and Twilight hadn’t taken long to fathom this herself. This was something else, something utterly confusing.
“Can you understand them?” Twilight asked as she saw Fluttershy turn her head towards the corridor, her ears upright.
“No,” she breathed. “But it sounds like...an argument...”
And indeed it did; Twilight once again summoned the courage amidst the disabling fear and morbid curiosity to peer around the corner. Where there had stood one raptor, now two animals stood, each sizing the other up. The barking and hissing continued; the animals locking gaze and padding from side to side, swinging their slender jaws about the place quickly and accurately. She watched as the two raptors mirrored each other’s movements. They turned as one, their gaze now along the corridor she was hiding in instead of across and that was enough to spook her – should either animal falter for even a second, she might finally be seen. Immediately she pulled her head back out of view.
“They’re arguing, alright...”
There was a terrible scream and a crash, causing Twilight and Fluttershy to yelp and wince. The corridor had exploded into a frenzied cacophony and an acute panic flared once more. And yet, neither knew quite what to do: the duelling animals blocked the way, and still presented far too much of a danger to their own wellbeing –
And it was at that moment the two animals slammed into the wall at the end of the corridor that the mares were hiding at: one raptor – a white-hot, wide yellow eye focussed sharply in front of it – had leapt atop the other and used own its mass to ram it. The disabling fear that overtook the mares allowed them the briefest moment to drink in the sight. The Velociraptor atop the other had locked its own jaws around the other’s neck with a horrifying gurgle but the downed animal clearly wasn’t about to give up yet; with a flick of its tail and a twist of its own bulk it had pulled the aggressor to the floor, beginning its own counterattack.
Something in Twilight’s head clicked and immediately she found herself jumping to her hooves, grabbing Fluttershy and yelling something about “now being the chance to go.” She didn’t really hear the words that came from her own lips, neither did she hear if Fluttershy had made any response. No, she could only hear the incredible thump of her own heart and the poisonous barking and screeching from the two large raptors locked in combat no less than six feet from her as she brushed past them, in a blind panic.
Twilight did not look back and powered past the corridor intersection, sparing only the briefest glance either side: some ways down each corridor was a group of three to four more raptors, busying themselves with some nondescript corpses. She didn’t notice if any of them had seen her and Fluttershy power past, and she did not stop to make sure either. She placed her focus on only one thing: powering up the stairs before her, hurrying through the heavy double-doors at their top, spinning around, and locking them shut once they were through.
Only then did she pause, and only then did they breathe. Heavy, ragged gasps were drawn as both ponies gathered themselves. Twilight’s adrenaline slowly wore off and she found herself breathing more steadily, beginning to assess the situation. “We – We made it,” she uttered quietly, aware that they were not entirely free from danger, but the heavy doors behind them seemed to offer enough protection. With this in mind, Twilight drank in the identical doors before them, hoping that these too would offer a brief respite should danger lie beyond.
“They didn’t smell us because they were feeding,” Fluttershy said meekly, finally breaking her own silence. She was wide-eyed, shell-shocked. “If they were hungry they’d have ripped us to shreds, and we’d have been powerless to stop it.”
Twilight said nothing, offering only a gentle reassuring hoof.
“They were feeding, and their eyes were so wild... And they fought with the intent to kill...” Fluttershy sniffed, fighting her stinging eyes. She looked up at Twilight, her features broken. “We were so lucky.”
Silently the pair embraced, holding each other in reassurance.
“We will get through this,” Twilight offered quietly. In between the gentle sobs, she felt Fluttershy’s head nod in the nape of her neck. They remained this way for some time, doing what they could to block out the occasional screeching from behind them. Eventually she disengaged her hug, steadying her breathing and regaining control of her own head as she saw Fluttershy wiping her eyes. She let out a ragged sigh. It was hard, so hard. But she knew they were close to their objective, and the hopeful relative safety that it would offer...
“The laboratory’s beyond these doors,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I’m scared.”
“So am I,” came her reply, itself just as quiet and cracked as Fluttershy’s. “But we need to do this.”
“I know.”
For a moment neither said anything, doing what they could to muster any shreds of courage left.
“O – okay. Fluttershy, you ready?”
“I think so.”
“Okay.” Twilight pressed gently against one of the doors, and – thankfully – it cracked open without making too much noise. Silently she and Fluttershy slipped through into the darkness, letting the door close quietly behind them, and immediately Twilight lay down, pulling Fluttershy with her.
“I see it too,” Fluttershy whispered to her. “Oh Celestia I see it too.”
They had entered the lab on an upper level, onto a gantry walkway that skirted the entire shop floor. It was dark but the rooflights allowed the moonlight to flood in; it allowed the pair to take in exactly what they had blundered into.
The vast laboratory was somewhere between a forensics lab and production line, biological apparatus paired up alongside industrial-looking vats and packaging lines. There were some enormous machines – Twilight surmised they’d be incubators of some sort – sprouting like columns at regular intervals across the shop floor. It would have been a spectacle in its day, a real cornerstone achievement of modern science and human accomplishment, but now it was derelict and haunting. Nature in all forms had reclaimed the hall. Vines and weeds covered most of the floorspace, the rest covered in dirt and dust and debris. Glass panels had shattered, rust had eaten away at the machinery. A thick layer of grime had settled upon everything, and the shafts of moonlight pouring in illuminated just how dense with spores the air was. But most haunting – most terrifying of all – were the multiple clutches of eggs in amongst the scientific apparatus, the worn pathways through the debris, and the thirty five or so predators wandering around in and checking the broods. Her heart sank, a powerful lump formed in her throat, and she felt sick and horrified.
The entire facility had been overrun by Velociraptors; the clues were always there. The corpses, the blood trails, the bone fragments, everything. And now, this: she and Fluttershy had escaped the two duelling animals, and those feeding on the large corpses, but had fled straight into the main nesting site.
“Fluttershy...”
“Twilight...”
Neither spoke nor moved for some time. What they had perceived to be a paralysing fear when fronted with the two fighting raptors paled in comparison to that which they now felt: both of their minds whirred much too quickly and adrenaline pumped much too powerfully for any cognitive or logical thought to cross their minds. Indeed, Twilight could focus on only one thing – she knew all too well just how incredibly sensitive these animals were to movement, sounds, and smells. If they moved, they’d be seen; they’d be attacked. If they stayed still, the raptors would eventually pick up on their scent; they’d be attacked. If they made too much noise, the raptors would hone in on them; they’d be attacked. It was too much, and she dared not move.
“We do need to move,” came the smallest voice from Fluttershy, as if she was reading Twilight’s mind. “We need to do something. If we stay here they’ll find us.” The fear in her voice was so easily apparent.
“You’re right.”
“We stay low, and we go slowly,” and with that Fluttershy began to crawl. Twilight quickly followed suit, amazed at the sudden confidence on display; a marked difference from the broken mare not five minutes earlier at the top of the stairs. That alone was inspiring enough to spur action, but not enough to stem the terror...
As quietly as possible Twilight crawled painfully slowly forward. Standing and trotting would be too obvious – her bigger profile and the click of her hooves on the metal gantry would spell doom. So crawling it was. Two hooves forward, then slide up to meet them, and repeat.
Breathe, Twilight.
She kept her gaze upward, and she kept her gaze forward. She focussed in on her movements and her breathing, listening to the sound of her own cyclic breath. In and out, in and out. It was quiet, but it was enough to drag her ear away from the hissing and the barking of the killing machines teeming beneath.
Or so she thought. The more she tried to block it out, the louder it became. One screech came from directly below her and she froze. It was so loud. Clamping her eyes shut, she listened to the grunting from the beast beneath; she could make out its footfalls. It was moving away. With a deep sigh she opened her eyes and prepared to move when she saw Fluttershy, equally as spooked and equally as still in front of her. She was looking back.
They’ve smelt us, she mouthed back to Twilight. They know we’re here somewhere.
Twilight’s pulse began to race. She did not doubt Fluttershy’s instinct and she insisted they continue. Their pace had quickened, and after a short while Twilight had made the mistake of looking back down. She nearly let out a scream, curbing herself just in time. The sight of twenty horrid glowing eyes met her own. A good number of the pack had come over to investigate. None had yet jumped onto the gantry – she rather hoped they couldn’t make the jump but a part of her knew that it had to be something they could do – but a few of them had their heads raised in her very direction. Some had leapt on top of desks, the smaller ones treading around beneath them. They were terrifyingly close now. She could hear their grunting and chatter clear as day. Just as clear was the saliva dangling from the bigger creatures’ maws. They can smell us, all right...
Fluttershy had stopped and Twilight crawled alongside. “They’re playing with us,” Fluttershy whispered ever-so-quietly. Despite sounding so nonchalant, Twilight knew that poor Fluttershy was shutting down, and the fear was finally winning out.
“We should run, then,” Twilight offered back. “Before any of them jump up here. We could make it—”
Crack. Crack.
The briefest of pauses followed the echoing sounds before the pair were taken aback by the entire pack whipping itself into a chaotic frenzy. They watched, part terrified, part dumbstruck, as almost all of the raptors began to holler and screech, excitedly darting to and fro across the cavernous nest area. A good number of the creatures had already made their exit via tunnels and worn-out holes in the walls, some having leapt dramatically through windows. It seemed chaotic but there was a definite order and method to the entire movement, various groups of animals moving as one. And that fact alone – that the raptors seemed to co-ordinate their movements and actions so tightly – was horrifying enough in its own right.
Crack.
“Gunshots,” Fluttershy suddenly said with a start. “That’s a gunshot. Twilight! Somepony else is here!”
Crack.
“Come on,” Twilight replied, helping Fluttershy up as she broke into a gallop. “Come on!”
The mares ran the distance to the communications tower door, hearing a piercing cry from behind and feeling the gantry shake with a heavy thud. Finally they had company; their sudden burst had given them away to the remaining raptors but there was no time to stop now. They didn’t look behind but as they hurtled towards the door they could feel the raptor pick up speed behind them, much too quickly for their liking. Thankfully they were too close to the gantry exit at this point and almost effortlessly barrelled through the steel door, slamming it shut and bracing it behind them. Moments later they felt a crash as their pursuant hit the door, and all too well could they hear its determined scrabbling and screaming on the other side. Hearts pounding, they leant in further, their collective weight and strength barely holding the raptor back.
Suddenly and with a very determined screech the raptor attacked with enough vigour to force the door ajar, pushing its entire head through. Fluttershy screamed and Twilight immediately slid away from the opening. It barked much too loudly and worked its jaws once, twice; its movements were hawkish and sharp. With renewed strength the two ponies forced themselves against the door and they could just hold the animal back, but it fought too, pushing a forelimb through and scrabbling awkwardly.
“Come – on – just – ”
“Leave. Us. ALONE!” Fluttershy roared, stunning Twilight – herself ensuring her own weight stayed very much against the door – and seeming to momentarily catch the raptor off-guard. Something inside her had finally broken, and she exploded. In an instant she had charged and slammed her weight into the door with an unexpected force – such force – that the raptor boaked, its neck and forelimb now trapped in the half-closed door. Untethered, Fluttershy slid up towards the trapped dinosaur, swinging a furious hoof at its snout. “GO. AWAY.” She connected, and with a final and very shrill howl the animal pulled its head back through the door, freeing itself and giving up the chase. In one swift movement Fluttershy slammed the door as quickly as the raptor had retreated from it, working the locks before finally allowing herself a moment to cool down. She turned away from Twilight and the chaos behind her, taking a few tentative steps into the hallway before she slumped down, visibly deflated and emotionally shattered.
Twilight was stunned. She trotted over. “I – you – ”
“Twilight.” She did not raise her eyes to connect. Instead she remained starting coldly at the floor, her voice hot and sharp. “Do not ever let me attack another animal ever again.”
“But – we – the Velociraptor—”
“I don’t care!” Only then did Fluttershy look up at Twilight, her eyes searching and desperate. “I don’t care. It’s still an animal and it’s only doing what comes naturally. I – Oh, Celestia...” She sighed so very deeply, sniffling. “This is out-of-character and I’m not okay with that.” Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. She’d dealt with outbursts before, both at ponies and animals. This was nothing new to her. But to physically attack a wild animal was so against her core values and ethics that, as far as she’d believed for her entire life, she would never even dream of doing such a thing. But here, emotionally spent, physically and mentally exhausted, in a completely different realm to her homeworld, and under immense pressure – she had finally broken, and in her own head she had crossed a fundamental line that she could never cross again. Ever.
It wasn’t often that Fluttershy felt the cold, hollow emptiness that came with a great wrongdoing, but now she felt it heavier than ever.
Twilight pursed her lips, slowly inching forward. “This place... It seems to do strange things to us...” She reached out to reassure Fluttershy, but she was quite angrily rebuffed. Acknowledging this, Twilight kept her distance. “You did what you had to,” she offered quietly. “As much as the Velociraptor was just doing ‘the natural thing’, if you hadn’t have done that, we may not be here at all.”
Fluttershy sniffed again, nodding curtly. She remained hidden behind her mane, staring at the floor.
“I am here for you,” she offered again. “You know that.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.” Twilight allowed a moment. “Well... We need to find out who’s here, at the very least.” Gently she steered the topic away from Fluttershy’s attack. “It could be Sarah. Or... It, uh... could be Dodgson.”
“I’m not going back. Not at all,” came Fluttershy’s firm response. “I can’t go through that again.”
Deeming it best not to speak, Twilight gently stroked Fluttershy’s mane in support, this time feeling her friend warming to the support. Of course, she was right. They couldn’t do that again. Already they’d brushed with death by dinosaur twice today; this itself was an exhausting thought. Indeed, on top of this they shouldn’t even have had to avoid predatory jaws whatsoever, observing these animals form a safe and secure distance. But that was simply a ‘what-if’. Twilight was all too aware of the reality of their situation and it nearly overwhelmed her – not for the first time since arriving on Isla Sorna – but she fought back her reactionary emotions, allowing herself a moment before speaking. “We’ve got this far,” she finally managed. “Let’s head up to the comms tower and see what we can do.”
Even she wasn’t convinced by her own words. They sounded hollow, and they felt hollow. But somepony else was around, distracting the raptor swarm, and – even if the main power seemed to be out in the facility – with any luck there’d be some sort of reserve power that could allow for radio communication with somepony.
Anypony.