The face of Littlefoot creased in agony. His white teeth pressed together.
“Hold still.” The pony urged kindly. “There, you will be alright. It is only a flesh wound.”
Her voice was so soft and earnest, Littlefoot could swear Fluttershy was a creature sent from heaven.
“There. All better. Now, this will take a while to fully heal so keep that tail of yours away from scratching those bondages.”
“Thank you, Fluttershy,”
“I should be thanking you. You saved Twilights’ life.”
The group had taken shelter beneath a large secular tree. It prevented the pouring rain from wetting them, more than it already had. The pegasus pony had tentatively tied some leaves around the longnecks’ wounds. She had also placed some worms in them, which she told Littlefoot prevented it from getting infected.
“Where did you learn all this?”
“It’s my job. In Ponyville, I have my own an animal daycare center and there is always some incident.”
“But didn’t you tell us we belonged to reptile families?” Littlefoot recalled what Fluttershy said about him and his friends earlier. “What are those?”
Fluttershy giggled. Littlefoot looked so cute when asking questions. “I don’t know how it is here, but in Equestria they are an old species that goes back millions of years, long before ponies existed. Strong evidence even suggests that they and birds are distant cousins. In Equestria we call them dinosaurs.”
“Dinosaurs?” Littlefoots’ eyes lit up like the starry night sky. “Are you saying we are dinosaurs?”
The smile of the pegasus pony turned modest. She went back on working on his wound. “I am sorry, even if I knew exactly how they looked millions of years before my time, this is cross-dimension stuff, you’re better off asking Twilight about that. She is the magic expert.”
Littlefoot saw the eyes of the pony trail of. He nudged her with the tip of his tail. “Hey.” Fluttershy looked at him. “We’ll go down and find your friend, I promise.”
The eyes of the pegasus gleamed. “Your three horned friend Cera seem skeptical...” Fluttershy turned her attention to the nasty wound Littlefoot got from fighting the Sharptooth. “...and I am almost inclined to agree with her. You have done so much already.”
“I have known Cera since she was a hatchling. She may be a bit grumpy at first but once you get on her good side: Trust me, no one is more loyal.”
Fluttershy giggled, sadness still sparkling in her pupils. “Kind of like how Rainbow Dash was. She was also difficult at times but she would never leave her friends hanging.”
“Not Was - Is. - She is still alive.”
“How do you know?”
“I can feel it, that fall did not kill her. Once we’re done here we’ll go down and find her!”
Fluttershy felt so much better talking to Littlefoot, he was so full of hope. Not like herself: Fluttershy was so nice, she rarely felt any hope - Hope was something meant for her friends, and her friends was more important. - Fluttershy giggled to herself. At least she could joke about her own shortcomings.
The others had also taken cover from the rain, most of them.
Ducky was part of a race that belonged in the water. Reaching up about the same height of the ponies, her reptile skin breathed at the wet touch of the monsoon. She hopscotched in it while laughing. As it turned out, she wasn’t the only one.
“Jumping the rain is fun!” The pink pony squeaked.
“It sure is!” Ducky yodeled.
Pinkie Pie was fun, Ducky thought. She always smiled and made others feel better. But despite her constantly merry ways it was never like she didn’t care. Ducky had seen it herself: A moment ago, Pinkie Pie had been just as down about Rainbow Dash as the other ponies. She just happened to look at life from the bright side, even in the darkest moments. Or maybe she actually was a little crazy? Either way, Ducky could spend all day with her. “You can’t catch the raindrops!”
“The raindrops can’t catch me! Weeeeeehihihiiiiiiiiiiii!”
The last ‘I’ was so high in pitch it melted into the rain, making it sound like the pink pony was phasing into it. Ducky laughed so hard she lost her breath.
“At least someone is having fun.” Apple Jack chuckled.
“Indeed.” A bleak voice replied.
Apple Jack glanced sideways at her unicorn friend and felt her sudden burst in happiness come to a halt.
Raritys’ blue mane was no longer streaking gracefully down the sides of her head like a waterfall. Instead, the waterfall split in two with its ends having grown all raggedy. Her usually combed ponytail, once barely touching the ground, had its shabby end buried in the dirt. Her white coat was riddled with dark spots, probably a mixture of dried mud, sand or old fashioned tufts. Apple Jack was used to the look from all the years working in the farm, but she knew Rarity.
“Is everything alright sugarcube?”
Rarity leered at Apple Jack before seemingly giving in. “No, Apple Jack. I am not alright. This is no place for me, I belong in the sprawling city. Shops, spas, chatting with sophisticated ponies and pleasant trots down the park. Here, I look miserable and when I look miserable, I am miserable.”
“What are cities?” Cera asked, approaching the ponies.
Rarity painted the picture with her hooves. She spoke like she was narrating a drama. “Rising skyscrapers, blinking lights, taxi carts that goes with the flow, a sprawling mix of high-class ponies and fairground jocks, restaurants that offers the finest food in Equestria to the shabbier places that bring more adventure to taste. There is no beginning, there is no end. It is... the CITY!”
Ceras’ face showed no signs of contorting. “Restaurants?”
“Yes.” The air between the pony and the threehorn got thinner the longer Rarity spoke. “Serving food? Eating? Connecting? Talking gossip?”
“Taxi?” Cera blurted.
Rarity could not believe it. So much un-cultivation, it was simply un-acceptable!
The raindrops ran down the blue mane of the white unicorn, ruining her perfection. Her blue eyes gleamed with a new light. - It suddenly dawned for her. - Rarity was not here to make herself fabulous, but the land. This land before society. -This land before time. - These creatures knew nothing of the finer arts of society.
"We shall fix that!"
"Fix what?" Cera asked confused.
Rarity smiled nervously. "Oh, sorry, did I say that one out loud?"
It was about as sophisticated the conversation would get.
Littlefoot had his neck wind around the trunk of the tree. Twilight Sparkle was resting behind it. Around her hoof was a bandage like the one Fluttershy had given him. Her horn was sparkling with a purple light. Littlefoot lit up.
“Is that magic?”
“It’s a tissue mending spell. Well, not really ‘mending’, mending limbs is extremely advanced magic, more like giving nature a small hoof by calming the muscles down.”
“Wow! Can you make anything?”
“Make?”
“Make leafs fall down from the sky.”
Twilight giggled. “That was an odd request. Yes Littlefoot, I can, but they won't just exist out of nowhere, they will have to come from somewhere.”
“How?”
“When you make something appear you use a technique called...”
Twilight explained some of the basics in magic. It was like the eyes of Littlefoot grew larger with every word. She saw, however, that he did not understand. But that wasn’t odd she thought, giving some of the words she used were in old ponish.
“...However, that is only if you want to control it. Young unicorns can do it sporadically without knowing any words.”
“Can you...?” Littlefoot hesitated.
“Yes?”
“Can you bring others back from the dead.”
“No.” Twilights’ answer was quick and final. Littlefoot remained silent. “I might be able to mess with someones spirit. But even if I were that powerful, that is dark magic.”
“Dark magic?”
“Over-course, let us start from the beginning.”
The horn of Twilight lit up. There were movement on the ground. The dirt parted ways around the rock as it became airborne by itself. The longneck instinctually scanned the area around it for strings.
“How?”
“Telekinesis... And a mineral detection spell, or else I wouldn’t have known it was there. You need to visualize the object you want to manipulate. The heavier the object, the harder the spell.”
Littlefoot saw the rock hoover midair. He had so many questions his head was spinning.
“Why do I have a cutie mark?”
“Because you have a special talent, Littlefoot.”
“What is that?”
Twilight giggled. “That is something that only you can discover.”
Littlefoot suddenly had self doubts. “Do you think we will find your friend alive?”
“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight sighed. “I hope so.”
“Well, tell your ‘Hope’ it will have to wait a little longer!”
“Rainbow Dash!?” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief, facing the crown above her. By now, the other ponies had already joined her side.
The eyes of Fluttershy sparkled behind her forming smile. “You’re alive!”
“And you can fly!?” Apple Jack deduced.
“Of course I can!” Dashie leaned chillingly against the trunk as she sat on a protruding branch. Her magenta eyes looked confidently down at the others. The rest of the dinosaurs joined the ponies.
“We thought we lost you.” Ducky said.
Dashie spotted Cera. “I was lost, until i remember how awesome I was.” The pegasus jumped. She made some air maneuvers that only a Wonderbolt could do, circulated the threehorn and landed only centimeters in front of her. Dashies’ grin showed no sign of stopping. “Now, if only we had more fliers in the group, but me and my new friend will do as scouting party,” Dashie looked straight into the eyes of the threehorn and ended smugly. “...At least until some of you sprout wings.”
Cera was stuck somewhere between bewilderement and annoyance and stayed there. It was enough to make Rainbow Dash bring out the chillaxing chair and bask herself in sweet vengenance.
“Pardon me miss Dash, your ‘new’ friend?” Rarity asked.
“Me are.”
The dinosaurs made a unison gasp. The mouth of Ducky rose as her eyes fell into a void of flabbergasting disbelief. Petri was perching on a protruding branch inside the tree, his modest eyes swimming in memories. “Hello, old friends.”
The smile of Littlefoot bent into a sideways grin. “Hello Petri.”
“Me cannot believe how much you all have grown.”
“Where did you go after we left?” Cera asked Petri.
Petri ruffled his wings as he faced his old friends. “Me stayed with mom and siblings until it was time for me to leave the nest. That is something every flyer eventually must do, so there was no hurting there, only duty.”
“Where is she now?” Littlefoot asked.
“Me was the last to leave. She stayed behind. Me believe she intend to end her life in the valley.”
“That’s great.” Ducky said.
“Why is that great?” Petri turned to the swimmer.
“Because that’s where we’re headed.” Cera informed.
“Back to The Great Valley? Isn’t that place dried out?”
“I don’t know, tell you mother that.” Cera joked.
“Us fliers don’t need food the same amount. Come to think of it, maybe the fall has returned?”
“Precisely!” Littlefoot boomed.
Petri turned to the strange creatures. At first he had thought that the blue one with a rainbow mane presented all the wonder which her race offered. There was now also a yellow one, an orange one, a white one that had no wings but a horn, a pink one and a purple one that appeared to be hurt.
“Pardon me asking, but what are you guys?”
Twilight managed to smile away her pain and raise her wings as she laid down. After all, she was one of the princesses, and it was her duty to represent Equestria, even in out of place situations.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, I am the princess of friendship. Nice to meet you Petri, words cannot express how thankful I am for helping my friend! We come from a far away land called Equestria, its in another dimension. To answer your question, we are ponies, and these are my friends! If you wonder why we look so different its because...”
Twilight explained to Petri the different pony races and where they lived in Equestria. She also told him what cutie marks was and about the different princesses and creatures. Petris’ eyes did not seem to dive that much into it. Cera figured it wasn’t odd. Petris’ clueless mind barely grasped the scope of his own world. At the part about cutie marks the flier turned to Littlefoot. “Then why does Littlefoot have one?”
“That is why they travel with us.” Littlefoot joined the conversation. “They need to find a way back to Equestria and I need to figure out why I have a mark like them.” Littlefoot sounded like he was about to travel to the stars.
“Wow, that sounds exiting, almost like...”
“...Almost like we’re going on another adventure!” Both the swimmer and the flier smiled at each other.
Littlefoot turned to Cera, who for once on this journey softened her otherwise grumpy face. “See? I knew you needed us you troublesome longneck!”