//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Equestria's Dinosaurs: The Utahraptor Pack // by Lord Shadow Eclipse //------------------------------// Vora's POV Vora was hoping to be better after a few days. But instead, she began to feel worse and worse. The first sign she got that something was wrong with her was when she was immediately woken up in the middle of night shaking from chills. Her body itself was burning while she was shivering as if she had no feathers. Her nose was runny and often clogged with something she couldn't even name. She began to become dizzy and tired at random times. She was glad that she had a clean pond in her pit prison. Her illness made her thirsty all the time, so she hardly strayed far from the pond. Her tongue felt like the sand from the desert beyond the mountains of her valley. Her wounds had become infected. When she looked at the injuries on her back, she could see that it had scabbed over and was leaking pus. There was a bad odor emanating from herself as well. The flesh around the injury was red and swollen. She began to cough up phlegm after the first full day. The phlegm and mucus made it hard for her to breathe. Whenever she tried to sleep, she'd be instantly awoken by the feeling of suffocating on her own phlegm. It was terrifying to say the least. When the sleepy-looking mammal attempted to feed her, she managed to gulp down a few meat scraps. She threw it up shortly afterwards. Vora tried to eat again, only to throw up after each attempt. Nowadays, she refused to eat at all. Today, she could hardly walk. Whenever she stood up to walk, her legs would give out from under her and send her tumbling to the ground. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Her feathers drooped with sickness. Flies and other insects were beginning to congregate around her, ready to feast on her after she died. This entire situation made Vora mad. She was an alpha of a successful Utahraptor pack, and she was about to succumb to infected injuries she should've been able to fight off. The colored mammals hurt her and threw her in some pit and kept her trapped. And now, insects were patiently waiting for her to die. And to add insult to injury, she didn't know if her pack was dead or alive. I wish I could at least see my pack again. I miss my sisters. I miss Velt. I wish he was here to wrap his claw around me and tell me that I'm going to be okay, she thought to herself. Velt was the only member of her pack that she would allow to see her this weak. Her sisters saw her in her moments of weakness before, but there was something about her mate supporting her the way he does that made him extra special to her. No! I can't allow myself to give in to this sickness! I'll get myself better and figure out how to escape!, she vowed in her mind. With the Ponies The group of friends arrived at one of Treehugger's animal sanctuaries near Trottingham. Fluttershy in particular was instantly impressed by the place. The entire place was surrounded by a tall fence made of thick tree trunks with steel cables lining the gaps horizontally. The fence's only gap was a large wooden gate. Once they entered the sanctuary, the group was instantly greeted by lush forest. Snaking through the forest was a wide dirt path. There were a few species of exotic birds and some deer grazing along the treeline. "This place is simply gorgeous, darling!", Rarity exclaimed softly. "Yeah, this whole place has several biomes created for different creatures. We have magical and normal creatures, herbivores and carnivores, you name it. This sanctuary was designed to cater to the needs of any creature you could imagine", Treehugger said to the group. "Well, where is the injured new creature?" Fluttershy asked. Treehugger suddenly wore a worried expression, which was a sight that was alien to the other ponies. They never thought the laid-back mare could ever worry about something. This must be really serious. "Just follow me to the Quarantine Area", Treehugger instructed before trotting off down the path. The others followed suit. As the group walked through the sanctuary, they saw a great many different animals in many different simulated biomes. A pair of yetis resided in a snowy mountain biome with a baby in the female's arms. The female glared protectively at the group as they passed. The swamp biome housed a Swamp Serpent guarding her nest. A simulated plains biome was inhabited by a spotted hyena clan. After a few more minutes of walking, the ponies finally reached the Quarantine Area. It was certainly a sight to behold. There were evenly-spaced pits arranged in several rows. In each of the pits, there were simulated biomes just like the rest of the sanctuary. The pits also had signs with numbers on them labeled one to fifty. "What's with the pits?" Applejack asked Treehugger. "The pits are to isolate the animals in the safest way possible without stressing them out. That way, I can work with them without them getting too agitated. There are tunnels connecting each of the pits together with a central operating room deep underground", Treehugger informed her. "Which one is housing the injured creature?" Twilight asked. "She's currently in Pit Fifteen" Treehugger replied before turning in the direction of the pit. "How is her condition?" Fluttershy asked her. "Not good. She's been getting worse and worse by the day. Right now, she can barely stand on her own two legs" Treehugger replied. Soon enough, they finally arrived at Pit Fifteen. They peered down the pit and saw... nothing. There was no creature in the pit at all. The saw discarded feathers, bone fragments, patches of vomit, and claw marks on the trees and the walls of the pit. There were trees and a clear pond from which the creature could drink, but no other sign that the creature was still inside. "She's probably hiding in the trees" Fluttershy thought. "The entrance into the pit is just over here" Treehugger said pointing to the entrance on the right side of the pit. "I suggest that only me and Fluttershy enter the pit. Since she's never warmed up to me, I think a larger group might make her more... aggressive" Treehugger said. "Okay, but we'll all be ready to swoop in if something goes wrong" Rainbow assured two animal-lovers. "I'll lasso the critter if things get too bad" Applejack chimed in producing a lasso. "Do be careful darlings" Rarity said. "Let's make this new creature happy!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Let's get her better" Twilight said. Fluttershy and Treehugger descended down the stairs into the tunnel that led into Pit Fifteen. The two went down a short corridor and walked up to a large metal door. They opened the door and went inside the enclosure. Upon entering the enclosure, the scent of sickness hit their noses like a punch to the face. Fluttershy tried her best to keep from gagging. If the scent was this bad, the poor creature was in worse shape than they thought. Getting over the overpowering scent of sickness, Fluttershy and Treehugger made their way into the patch of trees. It didn't take them very long to find the source of the smell. Fluttershy was both amazed and sad at the same time. She had never seen a creature like this in her whole life. If she wasn't in the grip of infection, she'd certainly be beautiful to behold. But right now, she wasn't looking good. Laying on a patch of vegetation before them was what looked like a mixture between a reptile and bird. Her neck, arms, back, tail, and upper thighs were covered in green feathers with black stripes. Her head was pointed with tooth-filled jaws and forward-facing eyes like a bird of prey. Her legs were powerfully muscled with one toe claw on each foot that was longer than the others. Her arms had three-fingered hands tipped with vicious claws. Her tail was long and covered with a lovely fan of feathers. Her infected injuries on her neck and back were oozing pus and were drawing the attention of flies. Her bloodshot eyes were staring at them with hatred and mistrust. Her already labored breathing picked up in pace the moment she laid eyes on the pair of ponies before her. She flexed her claws and bared her teeth in a defensive snarl as they tried to get closer to her. As she snarled, she broke into a coughing fit that ended in her spitting out phlegm. Mucus started oozing faster from her nose due to the increase in activity. "It's okay, girl. We're only here to help you" Treehugger tried to assure the defensive animal. She only snarled louder in response. Treehugger looked at Fluttershy. "Try talking to her, Flutters. See if you can talk to her and calm her down" she ordered. Treehugger knew that Fluttershy could talk to animals so she had faith in Fluttershy's skills. Fluttershy cleared her throat and took a step forward, only to have the injured creature shriek and snap at her. Fluttershy held a hoof up in submission. "It's okay. It's okay. We're not here to hurt you. Look, your wounds are infected and we are trying to help you get better" Fluttershy assured her. All that got was another snap from the creature's jaws. Looks like I have no other choice. I have to use the Stare, Fluttershy thought to herself. Fluttershy suddenly used her Stare on the aggressive animal. The Stare seemed to actually be affective on the animal. For a few seconds. After a few seconds, the creature did what no other creature aside from Discord had done before: broken free of the Stare's thrall. The attempt at the Stare seemed to make the already-angry creature even angrier. In her weakened state, the animal launched herself forward and slashed Fluttershy right across her right cheek! Fluttershy was flung backwards with three bleeding claw marks on her face. "Fluttershy!" Treehugger called out in concern for her friend. The animal started slowly approaching Fluttershy in a threatening manner. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl and her feathers were ruffled. Her claws were ready to rend Fluttershy to pieces. Fluttershy stood back up and began to slowly backed away while keeping her eyes locked on the larger predator's eyes. She knew that if she tried to run or fly, it would activate the animal's predator response. Nothing triggers a hungry predator more than prey on the run. After slowly backing away some more, she and the animal found themselves outside the tree patch and in full-view of her friends. "Fluttershy! Are you okay?!" Rainbow asked in obvious concern. "I'm okay! I can do this!" Fluttershy replied. The eyes of her friends were now fully locked on the sick animal limping towards the bleeding Pegasus. Before the animal could attack Fluttershy, however, she started to sway from side-to-side before collapsing unconscious. Treehugger went up and checked the animal's heart rate. She looked at Fluttershy with fear. "We have to get her to the medical center now!" she cried out.