-INSTALLATION: THE ISLAND-
The day continues to progress, and it’s currently 2:16 pm on the Ark.
Back at the river where the first encounter with the Spinosaurus had taken place, HLN-A causes her projection of The Survivor to fade away. Rainbow Dash, after a moment of shock following the AI’s tale, comments in disbelief:
“Woah… th-that’s just, wow…” The pegasus adjusts her unharmed wing as the afternoon rays of the sun shine down. “So, let me get this straight. You worked something out with this Ark’s Overseer, and because of that, human survivors are no longer here?”
The AI nods, “Yes. I wanted to give The Survivor the absolute best chance at success without having other survivors hinder his progress. You must understand, The Survivor possessed a heart very similar to you all, and he was a rarity among the many harsh survivors that used to live on this island, and at that point in time. I had no choice but to preserve him above all others. Therefore, I convinced the Overseer to send the implants of deceased human survivors off to other installations.”
Rainbow narrows her eyes, “Hey… did you pull a Discord on-”
“No!” HLN-A interjects with green lights flashing on their form. “Heavens no, love! I know what you’re thinking, and I didn’t commit genocide of any sort. And, to be fair, that wasn’t exactly Discord’s doing. And we both now know why that needed to happen, thanks to the information Spirit has passed onto us.”
Rainbow rolls her eyes, “Whatever. Anyway, how exactly did you do it?”
The AI brings forth another projection, depicting HLN-A speaking to a sizeable transparent map of The Island, which floated in the middle of a strange chamber. At least it’s odd to Rainbow Dash as she looks upon it inquisitively. But what stuck out most to the pegasus was that she could see other installations through what seemed to be large windows. And wherever this location is, it is obviously in space but still within Earth’s vicinity.
“It’s quite simple: the Overseer agreed to disable the respawn feature for humans on this installation. Then, time itself would take over from there and, forgive me for sounding harsh, solve the problem for us. The many tribes of the Ark either died off due to old age or in the many wars and conflicts that resulted in their unfortunate ends. And, of course, if any of The Island’s predators, even a few herbivores, managed to get them."
The AI removes the former projection and replaces it with another. The new imagery depicted The Island installation, but a strange series of transparent lines are seen exiting the Ark like shooting stars. And, most notably, the diamond-shaped implants of human survivors acted as the 'shooting stars' in question. Each one heading towards many other installations that littered the Earth's atmosphere.
"Once that was accomplished, all of their stored data was sent off to other installations such as The Center, Ragnarok, Crystal Isles, Lost Island, Valguero; it’s a very long list. Finally, once we were certain that there were no other humans, The Survivor was reinjected into the Ark. This all happened over three-hundred years ago.”
HLN-A projects The Survivor waking up nearly naked on a beach, wearing nothing but his underwear. And by absolute coincidence, or maybe not, it was the same beach that the Tribe of Harmony had awoken on.
Rainbow’s jaw dropped in response to the AI's revelation as HLN-A did away with their final projection. But a thought occurred to Rainbow Dash as she recalled HLN-A’s challenge.
“You also disabled our respawns during your challenge. I get that it was to toughen us up a bit, but, from what you told me about this Survivor dude… I’m starting to get the impression that-”
“You’re all being prepared and tested, Rainbow,” HLN-A interjects. “That is a part of the Ark’s primary objective. Even the Genesis simulation, and I’ll tell you more about that at a later date. It’s one of the reasons why I planted that Therizinosaurus onto Herbivore Isle since I knew you guys would be curious about it. Theris don’t spawn there ‘naturally,’ you see.”
The pegasus was at a complete loss for words. On one hoof, she knew that they needed to ascend from Ark to Ark to reach Earth, and improving their survival skills is nothing but a benefit. But on the other hoof, she was a bit overwhelmed to now truly understand that they were actively tested not just by HLN-A but the very Ark itself.
“I even increased the frequency of high-leveled entities, with the permission of the Overseer, of course,” The AI starts, drawing Rainbow’s attention. “It’s not a coincidence that you and your friends consistently ran into high-leveled threats, although some of them were still a ‘natural’ occurrence.”
Rainbow could only stare in shock, and upon taking a moment of silence, HLN-A inquires:
“I… I hope this doesn’t destroy my relationship with you and your friends,” The AI said somberly as a crying emoji was present on their visor. “I truly love and care for you all, and it is because of that that I want to prepare you to the best of my abilities,” HLN-A’s visor now shows an expression of worry, “A-are we still mates, mate?”
However, before the inner conflicted pegasus could respond, a series of rumbling ensues, which garners their attention. An all too familiar roar thunders across the local area before the Spinosaurus comes into view. It’s crawling on all fours and knocking over a few palm trees that stood in its’ way. But what truly stuck out most to HLN-A and Rainbow Dash is the clear scorch marks on the beasts’ chest region, even present on the forefront of the dinosaur’s forelimbs.
The Spinosaurus hurriedly runs into the river, and the approaching words of Granny Pithecus cry out:
“Dangit! It dun reached the river! Brace yourselves!”
The form of Granny Pithecus comes into view as she runs towards both Rainbow Dash and HLN-A. In addition, Spirit runs around a large boulder, which happens to be the same one Granny was once positioned on, with Spike still unconscious on the UNI-CRN’s back.
“Ah’ hope you two got some big guns!” Granny starts, catching her breath in front of the pegasus and AI, who stare at her dumbfoundedly. “Because that fell’r is ready for round two!”
Those words pull HLN-A out of their stupor, but as the AI was about to inquire about the Gigantopithecus’s meaning, the Spinosaurus answers metaphorically with its’ actions.
The dinosaur’s sail began to glow with a vibrant blue, its’ feet planted into the river while its’ head was raised up high. In a stunning display, the spined apex’s wounds began to heal as the waters around it vibrated in tandem.
As the event plays out, Spirit and HLN-A look to each other. All while Granny watches with gritted teeth, as does Rainbow Dash.
“Do you know anything about this?!” Spirit questions.
“No!” HLN-A responds. “I’m just as lost as you are! This shouldn’t be happening!”
“Never mind that!” Rainbow dash exclaims. “I’m with grandmare over here; we need some serious firepower!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Shouts the familiar voice of one of the pegasus’s closest friends. “We could hear something- sweet Celestia! It’s a Spinosaurus!”
“Twilight!” Rainbow responds as she takes in the forms of her fellow tribemates and Vanellope. However, a recent addition to the tribe is currently flying through the sky with a yellow pegasus mounted upon it—a small monkey sitting on the aforementioned pegasus’s left shoulder.
Twilight flies alongside the tribe’s newly acquired pterosaur while both Pinkie Pie and Rarity are mounted on the back of Vanellope’s saddle. Applejack stampedes alongside the Raptor before the entire Tribe of Harmony enters the conflict.
“My word!” Rarity shouts in shock. “Look at the size of that brute!”
“Wowie! That’s a big Gummy!” Pinkie Pie exclaims while pointing her left forehoof towards the dinosaur. “Only this Gummy has a sail!”
Meanwhile, Applejack stares on with a look of determination adorning the cowmare’s features.
-Perfect,- She says internally. -This fell’r will be a fine starting point fer mah path on get’n to ya, Edmund. So be patient fer me, ah’m comin’.-
At that moment, Twilight spots the slumbering form of Spike from above, floating alongside the tribes’ new pterosaur.
“Spike?!” The alicorn screams in concern before hurriedly flying down to Spirit. She lands before the UNI-CRN with a worried expression, “What happened to him?! Oh, Spike, I should’ve been there!”
Fluttershy lands the tribe’s new Ptera alongside them before dismounting afterward. Skitters hops off the pegasus’s shoulder and again seats himself onto Rarity in one swift movement.
Spirit was about to respond to Twilight’s inquiry, but the Spinosaurus halted any further actions within the river as the dinosaur roared out. The action it was performing seems to have done its’ job as every last bit of damage that the behemoth once had is healed flawlessly. In addition, the Spino’s sail ceased its’ glowing effects and returned to normal.
The tribe, Spirit, and Granny Pithecus are at a loss. Although the arrival of the total members of the tribe did indeed offer further support, the fact remains that they lacked the means to dispose of the apex predator properly, especially since it possesses healing capabilities.
They didn’t possess the firepower to deliver devastating blows that could outperform the Spinosaur’s ability, and all they currently had stored within their inventory were bows and arrows. Spears wouldn’t be all too effective, not unless they could manage to lure the entity away from water. But their most significant loss is undoubtedly Spike.
Therefore, many of them decided to go with their next best option: retreat. There is no shame in it, and after all, the only reason this conflict took place is that Spike, HLN-A, Rainbow Dash, and Spirit wished to save the source of the voice—revealed to be Granny Pithecus. Who is now safe with them. As far as they were concerned, their mission was accomplished.
“Let’s go!” Spirit declared. “There is no reason to linger here!”
Seeing sense in this as even HLN-A released an agreeing dinging sound from their form, the tribe, and Granny, were about to depart. Sadly, one among them had other ideas as an orange figure rushed towards the Spinosaurus.
The ponies let loose a gasp, and Spirit sighs in annoyance. Granny facepalms and HLN-A currently has red lights present on their ‘body’ as the AI roars out in anger:
“Applejack! Don’t be a fool! Get your flank back here right now!”
Sadly, none of their words would reach the cowmare as she stood at the edge of the river with a spear held within her right forelimb. She rears up, stands on her hind legs, and bellows:
“Come at me!”
The Spinosaurus finally rushes forth as, during the tribe’s exchange, the dinosaur eyed them as if waiting for their next move. And thanks to Applejack’s actions, the predator resumes its’ hunt.
As the titan draws closer, Applejack grits her teeth and prepares to retaliate, her spear ready to be thrown as she aims it towards the Spino’s eye. However, the sudden form of yellow fur pushes the cowmare aside as Fluttershy takes her place, causing the earth pony to grunt in response.
Applejack tumbles away due to the efforts of her pegasus friend, and during her recovery, a loud clasping of jaws emanates. Blood leaked down the Spinosaurus’s closed maw as yellow feathers fell onto the edges of the river, some landing on the shore’s sand where the beast now stood.
Your Tribemate Fluttershy - Lvl 23 was killed by a Spino - Lvl 34!