-INSTALLATION: THE ISLAND-
Both Rainbow Dash and Spike reached the small landmass, landing on its’ shore before they folded their wings. As was true to its name, they could see a large plethora of herbivorous dinosaurs that called this slice of paradise their home. Even some of the flying entities, Pteranodons, could be seen roosting amongst the trees. However, they did feel a bit uneasy as they could’ve sworn they saw a shark of such an immense size, which swam within the island’s bowl-shaped; central water source that still had various connections to the open ocean.
“Hey, there’s another one of those Apatosaurs!” Rainbow Dash exclaims, pointing a forehoof towards the entity.
Spike smirks, and crosses his arms, “And there’s those Pterosaurs that you never got to beat in a race.”
The cyan pegasus shoots him a deadpan expression, albeit with some annoyance, “You’re never gonna let me live that one down, huh?”
The dragon shrugs, “What can I say? That’s not getting old anytime soon,” He points his index digit at her, “And it’s to make sure you don’t pull another Argentavis stunt,” He chuckles, “Sorry for giving you a hard time with that. I do it only because I care, Rainbow.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” She responds while rolling her eyes, followed by a smile, “Thanks for watching my back,” The pegasus poses confidently, puffing out her chest fluff, “Besides, Helena even said that I was the fastest thing on this Ark, and that’s good enough for me,” Rainbow hovers in place, “Now then, let’s see what this place has in store for us.”
With an agreeing nod from Spike, the duo makes their way towards the center of the island. Just before the bowl-shaped water source which also had access to the open sea. Much like the aforementioned water source, they were now positioned within the epicenter of the entire landmass, a series of cliffs forming a bowl all around them.
A small herd of herbivorous dinosaurs that numbered four individuals was currently grazing within the epicenter. These entities had armored plates adorning their spinal columns, which were also capable of transitioning into multiple poses. The plates could go straight up, flatten themselves, and even glowed with various colorations.
However, both Spike and Rainbow Dash felt a cold chill go down their spines once they saw the business end of the herbivore. A tail equipped with razor-sharp thagomizers at its end, each one capable of piercing through the flesh of any carnivore foolish enough to try their luck.
In addition, another herbivore, which was a solo member of its kind and without a herd, was covered completely in armor with spikes erecting upwards. And much like the other entity, it too had a tail meant to deliver devastating blows to a would-be opponent.
Rainbow Dash was about to comment on the appearances of these beasts, but the heavily armored herbivore seemed to become annoyed by one of the large boulders. It raises its tail, and with a powerful shift in its positioning, it swings its mighty mace-like weapon directly at the object.
[CROTHOOM]
The two tribe members of Harmony went slack-jawed by the impressive display of physical prowess. The entire boulder shattered upon impact, giving into the entity’s might.
“Woah oh! That thing is awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaims after recovering from her stupor. “Forget earth pony strength, this thing would give even Rockhoof a run for his bits.”
“We definitely need to get those things into our tribe at some point,” Spike comments with an impressed expression.
After observing the impressive spectacle, the duo takes flight and lands on the top portion of the cliff face. They were now closer to the opposite side of the island, just adjacent to the location they first landed. A small forest was present here along with many more herbivores, the landmass staying true to its name as ever. But one caught the attention of Rainbow Dash as she shouts:
“Triceratops!”
“Oh, man, these things are badasses!” The cyan mare ‘squees’ in excitement. “I always wanted to see one. Hey, did you know that these things get stronger when they fight carnivores?!” She doesn’t get a response, which causes her to turn backward, “Spike?”
The young dragon was staring at something else entirely as he just stood there, his back turned towards the pegasus.
“Spike?!” She calls out again, but no response is garnered from the draconian. She trots over to the stupefied dragon and follows his gaze, only for hers to match his expression. There, sitting just before a large rock and almost hidden by tall grass was a chest-like object. And, naturally, Rainbow Dash could only be reminded of something straight out of her Daring-Do novels.
“S-Spike…”
“Y-yeah?”
“You know what this means, right…?”
They slowly turn towards each other in unison, forms a grin that stretched across their features, and shouts in tandem:
“Treasure!”
Spike instantly goes to work as he fiddles with the chest, all while Rainbow shuffles in place, in a fashion almost similar to what Pinkie Pie would do.
“Come on! Open it, open it, open it, open it,” She repeats, her excitement festered onto her facial features.
A resounding ‘CLICK’ emits from the chest, upon which its contents begin to synchronize into their implants. Both Rainbow Dash and Spike’s eyes were widened in absolute shock and awe as they were both seeing what was now present before them, via their implants.
“No way… it’s one of Helena’s dossiers!” Spike shouts.
“The Megalania can crawl on any surface?! That’s just so cool!” Rainbow exclaims. However, something else followed soon after which instantly gained their attention. A vibrant series of green words:
LEVEL-UP IS AVAILABLE! Access inventory to apply it!
“We leveled up again!” Rainbow shouts happily.
“I got three level-ups for application,” Spike said. “I wonder what I should apply them into-”
The dragon’s words were cut off as a large shadow loomed over the two survivors. Something clearly being drawn to their excited exclamations. With dilated pupils, and heartbeats that threatened to burst out of their chests, the duo turned around slowly, meeting the titan that stood behind them with their horrified expressions.
This is a herbivore that was unlike any other on the island. A creature that was a theropod like most carnivorous species on the Ark, and highly aggressive to boot. Its elongated; flesh-cleaving claws chartered against one another, as if someone had welded swords onto each and every one of their fingers.
The entity’s eyes radiated ferocity, and its feathers began to rise akin to a pegasus, or griffon, who were preparing to strike at a foe. It growls with such primal fury that neither the Carnotaurus, Sarcosuchus, or even the tribe’s own Raptor could match its intimidation factor. Then, it roars out before lifting its right arm and spreading its elongated claws.
“Dodge!” Rainbow shouts as the two survivors roll in opposite directions, a swift ‘SWOOSH’ sound passing over them. Along with a gust of wind as they manage to avoid the creature’s powerful swipe.
“It’s a Therizinosaurus!” Spike exclaims in horror. “Fluttershy warned me about these things!”
The Theri turns angrily towards its opponents and rushes towards them with its claws ready to tear them asunder. Its girth emits powerful stomps with every step it takes, all while it roars out in a haunting screech.
The duo turns away and runs towards the nearby cliff, preparing their wings for liftoff. Rainbow jumps off of the cliff and goes aloft, Spike jumping off as well. However, the blades of the Therizinosaurus managed to graze his left wing as it reached out to swipe at the dragon. His wing becomes torn like a pair of scissors through paper, and he starts to lose altitude, barely gliding forward while shouting:
“Rainbow, I c-can’t fly!”
Hearing this, Rainbow Dash looks backward and sees the angered Theri at the top of the cliff, but Spike’s purple form frantically falls into something that makes her fur rise in a horrific realization: The bowl-shaped water source.
A resounding splash erupts as a result, and Spike goes under the water's surface. As he opens his eyes underwater, he’s greeted by seaweed and various forms of fish. However, he also sees something incredibly large bolting right for him, an entity he and Rainbow briefly noticed when they first arrived onto the island. A large shark of an ancient species.
“Mmmmmmmmf!” Spike screams underwater as bubbles are created from his actions. The shark opens its massive jaws and rolls its eyes back into their sockets, torpedoing at the helpless swimmer with killer intent.
Rainbow could only watch from above in horror, unable to do anything to aid the dragon as the water turns crimson red, followed by the matching colored words:
Tribemember Spike - Lvl 16 was killed by a Megalodon - Lvl 120!
Having seen the message that was on full display for the entire tribe, both Applejack and Rarity were trying to restrain a sorrowful alicorn. Grains of sand were being thrown into the air as Twilight struggles within their grasp and shouts:
“Let me go! I need to help him!”
“He’s gone, Twi!” Applejack responds, currently positioned in front of the lavender mare; holding her back, “He already respawned back home, there ain’t anyth’n else we can do!”
“Twilight, please,” Rarity comments with a saddened tone, holding onto Twilight’s form with her forehooves from behind, “I’m so sorry, darling… I’m so, so, sorry…”
The alicorn’s struggles suddenly go limp as she melts into the embrace of her tribemates. She buries her tearful face into Applejack’s chest with the cowmare placing a forehoof onto Twilight’s back, patting her in comfort.
Suddenly, another form approaches them rapidly in the sky, from the direction of Herbivore Island, as a certain cyan pegasus wears a face of regret and sorrow. Rainbow Dash lands before her tribemates which garners their attention. With her head lowered in defeat and her ears folded against her head, she says:
“I-It happened so fast… j-just like with, P-Pinkie Pie…” She sighs, “I’m sorry, Twilight… I couldn’t save him…”
“Rainbow, dearie, what happened on that island?” Rarity inquires while Applejack continues to comfort the lavender alicorn.
“Everything was going great,” Rainbow starts after taking a deep breath. “We saw all kinds of amazing creatures there. Then... we found a chest.”
“Chest?” Rarity questions.
The pegasus nods in response, her saddened expression still present, “Spike opened it, and what was inside turned out to be one of Helena’s dossiers. We were so happy, we even got level-ups!” She emphasizes by spreading her forehooves apart, rearing up on her hind legs before crashing her hooves back down onto the sand.
“It all went downhill after that…”
“Poor Spike…” Fluttershy comments sympathetically, having seen the death message for the draconian. “Twilight must be devastated right now...”
All the while, the yellow pegasus’s mane flutters about in the wind as Vanellope runs along The Island’s coastline. The Tribe of Harmony’s home was nearly in reach, and all the duo needed to do was go around a large series of rock formations.
“Pinkie Pie?! Spike?!” She calls out, hoping that the duo would be here. And seeing as Spike had just died, perhaps he’d already been waiting at the house with the aforementioned party pony. At least, that’s what Fluttershy figured.
“Maybe they went out for a bit?” The pegasus wondered, bringing a forehoof to her chin in thought, “I didn’t see them on the way back here.”
The dinosaur and its rider go around one final boulder, but Fluttershy’s eyes widen in absolute shock as she says:
“T-the house… It’s gone!”
Granted, the yellow pegasus had spoken too soon as she did take notice of something else. An object that sat, and replaced, the spot where the tribe's former shelter once stood: A wooden sign with a note etched to its surface.