//------------------------------// // Season 1, Episode 8: Prehistoric Panic // Story: The Omnitrix Hero // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Excitement filled the air inside the two Canterlot High Buses. Inside the lead bus, students were laughing and cheering as they watched the environment outside it fly by. They were a good ways outside of Canterlot at that moment, having left from school at half six this morning. It was now almost ten o'clock and they were far far away from the city now, with many mansion sized rocks on either side of the road. "Okay everyone," Principal Celestia stood up and looked back at the kids sitting in the bus. "We're getting close to our destination. Now, I want you to remember that this fieldtrip his happening thanks to the generosity of my old friend Ancient Bones. Usually, civilians wouldn't be allowed anywhere near an active digsite like this one. So please remember to be on your best behaviour and don't mess around. Is that understood?" "Yes Principal Celestia," they all nodded. As they continued down the road, those at the back of the bus continued speaking. "I can't wait!" Pinkie bounced up and down on her seat. "We get to see real life dinosaur bones!" Twilight nodded as she pushed her glasses up. "Just think of it. These bones haven't been seen in over sixty-five million years and we'll get to be the first ones to actually see them." "This is gonna be awesome!" Rainbow cheered, Fluttershy nodding as she sat next to her. Flash and Trixie were also sitting with them, the pair just as excited to be on this trip. After all the insanity they had been going through, a normal adventure was just what they were hoping for. "Hey!" Trixie told them, "favourite dinosaur? Go!" "Ooh," Pinkie smiled, "pachycephalosaurus. I like how they headbutt each other." "You realise they didn't actually do that, right?" Twilight asked, "that was just something made up for a kids movie." Pinkie pouted, her expression screaming don't kill my dreams. "I'd have to go with the plesiosaurus. I guess all those years wondering if the Loch Ness Monster was real made me like them." "Velociraptor," Rainbow smirked. "It was the fastest dino around." "Well a'h like the carnotaurus," Applejack smirked. "Bet that beast was pretty strong." "Who cares about the dinosaurs," Spike smirked. "Their bones all taste the same." "I've never really thought about my favourite dinosaur," Rarity stated as she filed her nails. "But I guess an ankylosaurus knew the value of a good accessory. A strong shell and tail hammer. Now that's function and fashion." "Parasaurolophus," Fluttershy then said. "I heard they sung to one another. It sounds beautiful." They turned to the last two, Sunset shrugging. "I...never really thought about it. They don't have dinosaurs where I come from, so I guess I'll go with the obvious T-rex." They nodded at this before turning to Flash, who smirked. "Therizinosaurus," he stated. Everyone except Twilight looked confused, "those things are mad cool. Super long claws that could probably slash through anything. I bet a T-rex would be pretty scared if it every ran into one of those." They continued to talk about dinos as the landscape began to change. Slowly, the rocks began to have trees growing on and around them. First it was a few, then a couple, then a couple couples, then a lot and finally there was nothing but trees all around them. As this was going on, the buses pulled off the main road and onto a dirt path. After a few more minutes, they arrived at an area of wood devoid of trees that had many cars parked there. When the buses stopped, Celestia told them to file out and remain outside the bus. They did so as the rest of their classes did the same with the other bus, Luna stepping out with them. As they did, someone stepped out of the woods. That someone was a man Celestia's age, with pale skin and light brown hair. He wore a brown buttoned up vest over a green shirt, dark brown pants, a brown beret and round glasses over his eyes. "Hello there," the man smiled as he stepped up to them. "It's nice to meet you all. My name is Bones, Ancient Bones. Doctor of Paleontology and the leader of this dig. I'm sure you're all looking forward to this trip, aren't you?" They all nodded at this as the man smiled, seeing so many interested individuals. "I guess it's true. Doesn't matter how old you are, everyone loves dinosaurs. Now, follow me towards an adventure into the past." With that, they all began to make their way into the forest. Completely unaware that there was great danger waiting for them. In another section of the wooded cliffs, near an area that dropped into a wooded valley, three individuals had just stepped up a path from the valley. The first was a man with green skin along with a brown beard and hair, wearing a black suit like outfit with a money-bag symbol on the chest pocket. The second was the shortest of the group, who had silver skin and yellow hair along with wearing a black leather jacket with a wind like image on the back. He also had brown leather pants and an earring in his right ear. The last man was the biggest of the group, bulky and heavyweight with gray skin and black hair. He was wearing a white vest with a boulder logo on the back and black pants. The three individuals here all carrying large rucksacks on their backs. "Alright," the first man told the others, "you know what to do. We position these things in just the right place to cause a scene and scare the people away, allowing us to swoop in and grab the loot." "Got it boss," the second man smirked as the third nodded. "But seriously, who's going to buy a bunch of old bones?" "You'd be surprised how much a bunch of old bones goes for when sold to the right buyer," the man smirked. "Trust me. Big Score always has a nose for these types of things. Alright, Rickashay, you head that way. Boulder, you head the other. I'll head straight and we'll meet up on the far side of the digsite once everything is set up." "Got it," Rickashay nodded before taking something out of his backpack. "Should we change into these now?" The something turned out to be an orange jacket and pants, with pickaxe symbols on the shoulders. "Yes," Score nodded as he started to remove his jacket. He and Boulder took out their own orange clothing and within a few moments, the three were dressed into completely new attire. "Alright, break!" With that, they all headed in different directions. They all chuckled as they got to work, expecting a big payday from this. Back with the students, they were all excited when they finally arrived at the digsite. Large holes could be seen in the ground surrounded by trees, the students looking down into them and seeing people in orange clothing brushing dirt away from what they had all come to see. "And here we have one of the first discoveries at this site," Bones explained as they stared at the half unburied skeleton. "The remains of a stegosaurus genera named hesperosaurus." "Cool," Flash smirked with the others nodding. "Yes," Bones then led them to another hole, "and not too far away we have one of the smaller species found here: Apatoraptor." They looked down and saw what appeared to be the remains of some kind of emu-like dinosaur, the kids all staring at it in confusion. Twilight had to keep a tight grip on Spike, knowing he would use any chance he got to try and snack on one of the bones. Bones continued to show them many different holes that had many different dinosaurs, the teens all amazed by the number of different species located in one place. As time went one, they started seeing dinosaurs the teens had never heard of. There was Judiceratops, iguanacolossus, lambeosaurus, leptoceratops, sarahsaurus and so many more. Eventually, they arrived at an area of the digsite which had red tape surrounding it. A large tent could be seen built atop this area. "And now, you're in for a very special treat. Something that I haven't even made public yet." The teens got excited as he stepped past the tape and turned to them. "The discovery of an entirely new breed of dinosaur." This statement go everyone murmuring. "A new breed of dinosaur?" Twilight asked, "what do you think it could be?" "Maybe a new subspecies of an existing dinosaur," Sunset guessed. "A variant that were only starting to become their own thing before they were wiped out." Everyone anxiously waited for the reveal, as Ancient Bones headed into the tent and returned pussing a large wheeled table with something on it covered by a sheet. "Behold," he pulled the sheet off, "the new breed of dinosaur." The students were all amazed by the skull that was revealed, at first thinking it was some kind of triceratops. It was certainly triceratops like, having three horns in the right place with a large frill on the back. But the rest of the head was more like that of a T-rex-like dinosaur. The thing was large enough to fit a small child in its mouth, or an adult from the head to the waist. It was certainly like no dinosaur they had ever seen before. "Is that thing even real?" Micro Chips asked, Ancient Bones laughing at this. "Yes indeed. We've managed to find a complete skeleton of this beauty and we've determined it is in fact real. In fact, I sent one of the bones off for carbon dating and should be getting the results back any time. Until then, allow me to show you what the creature might have looked like back in its day." He headed back into the tent and after a few moments, returned with a TV screen on another table. As he positioned it, everyone gathered around in order to get a good look. He then switched it on and showed a computer generated of what he thought the dinosaur might have looked like. Its body was shaped like a komodo dragon, only its front legs were much larger than the modern day ones and almost looked like arms. It had three long claws on each of its limbs and a tail almost as long as its body, with the head looking just like the skull. The image showed it looking scale-covered like many dinosaurs, being mostly brown or grey in colour. The image then changed the show its body with feathers, the students realising these images were basically rough guesses of what Bones believed it looked like. Then the image showed the dinosaur next to a silhouette of a person, comparing its size to them. Another silhouette appeared showing a T-Rex, with the new dinosaur being about halfway size-wise between the person and the T-rex. "We've yet to give this creature a name and we're still working to determine whether it was a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. With its build I'm assuming it's a climber, using its large claws and strong muscles to pull itself up large cliffs and sturdy trees. But only time will tell." "This is amazing!" Twilight smiled, "you'll become world famous for this." "Thank you," Bones nodded. "But this job isn't about fame. It's about uncovering the truth behind our world's great prehistoric mysteries. After all, the seeds of the future lay buried in the past. The only way to understand what could happen to this world in the future, is to figure out what happened to it in the past. Don't you all agree?" Most of the students had no idea what he was talking about, but decided to simply agree with him as he continued to give them a tour. At the same time, Big Score and his cronies were wandering around the outskirts of the digsite. When he was sure nobody was looking, Score reached into his bag and pulled out a rather odd object. A stick of dynamite connect to a strange device on the end of it where the fuzz would be. He quickly dug a small hole and struck the stick inside, leaving only the device above ground. He then pressed a button of the device, making the red light turn green before he covered it in leaves. Once that was done, he rushed off and as he did, Rickashay and Boulder appeared. "Did you do it?" "Yup," Rickashay smirked as Boulder nodded, "every stick carefully hidden with the receivers activated." Boulder nodded again. "Good," he smirked, "now let's get to a safe area before he detonate." He began to make his way towards the digsite and the other two followed, the three stepping into the site and casually walking through it. "Alright," he pulled out a strange looking remote. "Once we're in the right spot, I'll hit this and everything will go cablowy. Then, when everyone's run off out of fear, we'll swoop in and nab the-" "Hey!" They all spun around and saw a woman in orange moving towards them. "What do you think you're doing?" They gulped, thinking they were busted. "It's not break time. And you know phones aren't allowed on site." She then took a closer look at the three of them, "I don't think I know you. Who's your section leader?" The three were really panicking now, knowing that the gig was up. Score knew he didn't have any choice, so he hit the button. The students were all continuing to examine the many different bones that had already been collected from the pits. Many tables were behind the red tape, allowing them to see them up close without touching them. "Looks like this dinosaur was attacked by something," Twilight pointed to a stegosaur back plate that had a large chunk taken out of it. "Maybe it was done by that strange new dinosaur Bones has found." The others nodded, also interested in knowing more about this strange new creature. In that moment, Bone's phone rang. "Hello?" He answer, smiling as he did. "That's great. So what's the result?" He then frowned, "what? That can't be right." The others turned to him, wondering what the problem was. "Date it again." He frowned some more, "then quintuple check it." He hung up, looking very unhappy. "What's wrong?" Celestia asked, with Bones turning to frown at her. "The carbon dating on the new dinosaur just came in. According to the lab, the sample taken from the bone indicates it's only...fifty thousand years old." Those who heard and understood this were shocked, Rainbow leaning over to Twilight. "Is that old?" "Not old enough to be a dinosaur," Twilight explained. "how can those bones be so young?" Bones didn't say anything, instead simply looking over at the skull and slowly moving over to it. He looked the skull right where its eyes should be, looking like he was about to talk to it. "What are you?" KABOOM! Everyone was suddenly shocked by a massive explosion that occurred a mile or so away from the digsite, many students screaming in horror as Flash and the Rainbooms, minus Fluttershy, instinctively got into a fighting stance. KABOOM! Another blast in the opposite direction shocked them again, everyone beginning to really panic. KABOOM...KABOOM...KABOOM! More and more explosion shook the ground around them, many of the people in the holes seeing the sides starting to shake and threaten to collapse and bury them. "EVERYONE TO THE BUSES!" Luna yelled, the students beginning to run away but more explosions made them fear any moment the spot they were standing on would blow. "What's happening?" Bones cried, fearing his many hard discovered fossils would be destroyed by one of these explosions. "Someone...please make this stop." As the explosions continued, Flash and Trixie managed to sneak off to the side and hide behind one of the large rocks. "Time to get everybody out of here!" Flash stated as he activated the Omnitrix, dialing up XLR8 and slapping the watch down. A green flash filled the air as he transformed, only not into the alien he chose. "Huh?" He looked down and saw his claws weren't that of XLR8, but of his electrical alien. "Oh, great!" Trixie groaned as the sight of Volt-Edge, "now what are you supposed to do?" Volt-Edge frowned, but shook it off as he knew he didn't have time to waste so he needed to get into action. "I can still get everyone out of here...somehow." But as he was about to jump into action, he spotted something. "Huh?" Three figures in expedition clothing that were running away from the area. His alien eyes allowed him to look with better detail than his human ones, so he was able to see one of them hold up a remote of some kind and press a button. As soon as he did, another explosion occurred not far off. "So you're the ones doing this!" He cried before rushing forwards, Trixie looking confused but following after the electric alien as they journeyed deeper into the canyon forest. Volt-Edge was able to leap up onto some trees and started skipping from one to the other, quickly closing the gap between himself and the ones responsible. The three eventually made their way to a cliff edge, which happened to have a zigzagging path that led down the side of it into a lower area of the forest covered valley. They headed down the path as Volt-Edge reached the top, Trixie not far behind. They watched them disappear down into the valley. "Let's go!" Trixie cried, Volt-Edge picking her up before jumping off the side of the cliff and landing on one of the paths. He did this several more times until they reached the bottom, as the criminals continued to make their way through the woods. They kept following and eventually, they came to a clearing surrounding by trees with a rock-face on the far side. As he stepped into the clearing, he spotted the three criminals taking something out of a hole in the rock-face. His lizard eyes zeroed in on the hole and was shocked when he spotted a small pile of explosives sitting there. The three were holding litteral sticks of dynamite, likely planning to use it to scare the rest of the crew off. "Hey!" He roared, shocking the three as they spun around to see the alien land in front of them. "What the heck do you think you're doing?" "It's one of those alien freaks!" Rickashay told his boss, Big Score frowning before holding up the remote. "Don't take another step. One wrong move and I blow this whole forest to kingdom come." Volt-Edge growled at this, taking a deep breath as he stared the man down. They both stood opposite one another, trying to figure out if the other was gonna make a move. Volt-Edge summoned a tiny spark of energy whilst Big Score prepared to press the button. Neither was sure if they wanted to risk an attempt to stop the other, so it appeared to be a stalemate. At least until Trixie suddenly appeared and snapped a photo. "Gotcha!" Trixie smirked as she started typing away. "Pretty soon the whole world's gonna know who it was blowing this place up." Big Score gasped seeing this and the distraction was all Volt-Edge needed, the electric lizard firing a tiny lightning bolt that flew across the field and struck the remote. "Augh!" He cried, dropping it as the machine was fried. "You little..." Score and his cronies each pulled out a gun and fired at him, Volt-Edge unleashing a burst of lightning intending to stop them in their tracks. But the bullets simply flew through the electricity and continued towards him, Volt-Edge gasping as he swung his claws around and managed to cut the bullets in half before they struck his skin. Before the criminals could fire again, he launched another burst of lightning straight towards them. It struck the guns but they weren't conducting, though the electricity managed to find a few pieces on the inside to grab hold of. Volt-Edge yanked them out of the crook's hands and threw them as far as his limit grip could throw. "HEY!" Score cried as he growled at the alien, "I've had enough of you!" He charged forward with his cronies and the three looked ready to brawl with the alien. But Volt-Edge smirked and started building up electricity. And as he did, Trixie realised what could happen if he fired it. "WAIT!" She screamed, rushing towards him. But as she did, she happened to trip on a rock and stagger forwards until she tackled Volt-Edge. "WOW!" The alien cried as he and Trixie fell to the ground, causing him to accidently launch his lightning blast into the air. It then arched down and landed...right inside the dynamite filled cave. Time seemed to stop for the five of them, as they realised they were now in really big trouble. The lightning set each of the fusses alight and quickly burned through them, Volt-Edge quickly grabbing Trixie and trying to run for it. He got halfway across the clearing before it finally happened. KABOOM! Over with the still terrified school kids and adults, they were starting to calm down only for a massive boom to fill the air and shatter every piece of glass on the buses they were running towards. They turned towards the boom and saw a massive smoke cloud filling the air, the lot of them hoping whoever set that explosion was nowhere near it when it went off. Volt-Edge had managed to shield Trixie when the bombs went off, protecting her from the best whilst unleashing an electrical field to protect himself. As the smoke from the explosion began to fade away, he looked back at the cave and saw the entire cliff-face was covered in cracks and already some pieces were breaking off. Big Score and his flunkies were all looking a little worse for wears, the lot of them covered in soot with their hair sticking up. "We've gotta get out of here!" Volt-Edge told them all, as he picked up Trixie intending to run. However, the ground beneath his feet had also been shaken up. And for some reason, this caused the ground to crack and break apart. Volt-Edge quickly realised his only meant one thing. They were standing on something hollow. "MOVE!" But it was too late. The ground shattered and before Volt-Edge could jump, he, Trixie and the criminals were falling down a very dark passageway. A few seconds later, the cliff-face finally gave way and the rocks began to fall towards the newly formed hole. In less than a minute, a large pile of rocks was jammed inside the whole and it was sealed shut. The only proof anyone was even there was a single shattered phone. Back with the rest of the school students and teachers, they had managed to get back to the buses. When they did, Celestia began to do register. "Lyra Heartstrings?" "Here." "Bright Idea?" "Here." "Cloudy Kicks?" "Here." "Sweet Leaves?" "Here." "Trixie Lulamoon?" "..." "Trixie Lulamoon?" She looked up, but saw no sign of Trixie. This worried Celestia, along with Trixie's friends. "Who was Trixie's buddy?" "Flash," Sunset replied, "but...I don't see him either." Now Celestia was really worried, the woman telling the teens to stay as she went to search for them. But the Rainbooms ran forward. "We can protect ourselves from those explosions better than you can. Let us help look." Celestia didn't like the idea of her students being near danger, but also knew how useful their magic could be. "Very well. But we have to be careful." They nodded and headed back towards the digsite, all the while hoping Flash and Trixie were okay. Volt-Edge moaned as he felt himself coming round, quickly feeling something laying on top of him. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Trixie was the one doing that, the girl's head laid on his chest as she too was unconscious. He then looked around and saw he was in some kind of rocky cave, with a weird glowing green substance lining areas of the wall that lit the place up. Looking straight up, he saw he was laying right below a long tunnel leading up to the surface that they had likely fallen through. "Trixie," he rolled her off of him and tried to shake her away. "Trixie, wake up." But still no reply, making him sigh as he touched her cheek with his claw before sending a tiny volt through it. "EEEEYEEEE!" Trixie shot up awake, "what happened? What year is this? Is The Rock president?" "Easy," he told her. "We're fine. We're just a little...stuck." Trixie looked up whilst Volt-Edge looked around the room they were in and spotted several holes in the whole, all connected to tunnels that swerved off in different directions. He then noticed the three crooks on the ground a ways off, all looking fine though unconscious. "How'd we survive such a long fall?" Trixie asked, Volt-Edge unsure how to answer that. In that moment, they heard a groaning sound and looked back at the crooks as Score began to come around. Rickashay was next followed by Boulder, the three pushing themselves up before noticing Trixie and the alien. "YOU!" Score roared, the three jumping to their feet and getting into a fighting stance. "Will you knock it off," Volt-Edge told them. "Look around. We're not in a great position to be fighting." The crooks did look around and realise he was right, but that didn't stop them from eyeing the two down as they looked up at the ceiling. "Do you think you can jump it?" Trixie asked, "maybe jump back and forth between the walls until you reach the top?" "I don't know. Maybe, but I'd probably time out before I reach the top. And even if I did get there, there's no way I can blast my way through the rocks. I think we're stuck here." "Great!" Score cried, "just great. Nice work, getting us all trapped down here." "Us?" Volt-Edge glared at him, "how is this our fault?" "You lit the dynamite!" Rickashay told him. "That you idiots brought!" Volt-Edge roared. "If I hadn't ignited the sticks, you morons probably would have done it yourself eventually." The alien and the criminals continued arguing with one another, Trixie rolling her eyes at this. And as she did, something caught her ear. "Huh?" She looked towards one of the tunnels and listened, trying to tune out the others as they argues. Then she heard it again. A weird noise that sounded like a mix of a growl and a purr, coming closer and closer by the second. "F...Flash," she poked Volt-Edge's shoulder and the alien turned to her before focusing on the tunnel. The criminals did the same and they all heard the noise, making them all get defensive and prepared for battle. A shadow appeared to fill the tunnel and moved closer and closer, the growling getting louder. They all felt like prey, about to be pounced on any moment. And then the source of the noise jumped out of the tunnel and it was...a strange looking creature the size of a big cat or a small dog. "Huh?" They all said as they looked the creature over. Volt-Edge and Trixie were reminded of the creature they had seen on Ancient Bone's computer, it being the cross between a lizard and a triceratops. This one was pure white with red stripes and the tips of its frill were also red. The little creature let out several cute growls as it moved towards them, sniffing the air to try and figure out what they were. When it spotted Volt-Edge, it seemed to smile and move towards him. "Ouh," Trixie smirked as she watched the little creature pant at Volt-Edge's feet like a dog, "he likes you." "Yay," Volt-Edge frowned as he stared at the creature, "what the heck is it?" Trixie knelt down and scratched it behind its ear...or where she figured the ear was. "I think it's that creature Ancient Bones was digging up. But it's alive." "A living dinosaur?" Volt-Edge asked, "how's that possible?" "Lots of creatures were able to survive when the dinosaurs died out. Crocodiles, rodents, some insects. This little guy must have hid down here and did the same." "And now it's gonna make me a but ton of money." They turned to Big Score, as he and his crooks stepped forward with smirks on their faces. "Hand it over." "Or what?" Volt-Edge fired a bolt of lightning that struck close to their feet, making the crooks jump back. They glared at him and Volt-Edge smirked, but knew he would likely turn back any moment. What could he do? He didn't get a chance to come up with an answer, as in that moment a new sound filled the air. It was a roar, the type one would hear in old dinosaur movies. A few seconds later, the ground started vibrating. "What, is, that?" Rickashay asked, as Trixie looked down at the creature she had just been scratching the belly of. She then remembered that the bone of the creature she saw were a lot bigger than this one, making her realise a horrifying truth. "This is a baby," she told the others. "Which means...the shaking must be being caused by..." Another roar echoed through the tunnel before the owner of it appeared. It was the creature they had seen on Bone's diagram, only it was a lot bigger then it. This one was the size of a T-Rex, maybe a tiny bit bigger, with bright red skin and yellow stripes. The beast looked down at them and growled, then spotted the baby at their feet and let out a mighty roar. It then swung its giant claws around, trying to either cut them in half or crush them under its large hands. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" Score screamed as he and his flunkies leapt away, Volt-Edge grabbing Trixie and pushing her away as well. The beast's claws ripped into the ground and the baby let out a laugh-like growl, clearly finding this whole thing enjoyable. Score and his minions then rushed into the nearest tunnel, whilst Volt-Edge stood up and started charging power. "Take this!" He cried, launching a thunderbolt that shot towards the dinosaur and hit in in the head. This made it stagger back a bit, but didn't really hurt it. As it did, Trixie tried to push the baby towards it. "Time to go home little guy." But the baby wasn't listening and just let out a cute growl as it ran around her again, "come on!" Volt-Edge fired another bolt and struck the creature, preventing it from attacking again. But as he did, the Omnitrix started beeping. "RUN!" Volt-Edge grabbed Trixie and leapt into one of the tunnels, getting as far as he could before he transformed back. "WOW!" They cried as they fell to the floor, the dinosaur still recovering from the shock. They quickly got to their feet and ran for it, only for the beast to finally recover and start chasing them. "Why are you coming after us?" Flash asked, but then heard a sound and looked down. "What are you doing?" Trixie asked the baby, who was running with them as the momma chased after them. "Go home!" But the baby wasn't listening and the beast was getting closer. "What do we do?" Flash then noticed another tunnel in the side of the wall, one that looked about ten feet in diameter. Too small for momma dino. "LEFT!" He curved around and ran into the tunnel, Trixie and the baby following behind. The adult arrived at the entrance and looked inside, seeing the two with its child running away and letting out a roar as it was unable to go after them. If Flash and Trixie could understand its roars, they would be feeling very scared in that moment. Back up top, Celestia and the Rainbooms were continuing to search for their friends. They had tried their phones, but both didn't even make it to voicemail. "FLASH!" Twilight called out, with no reply. Spike was sniffing the ground, but the young pup couldn't find any trace of the two teens. "TRIXIE! Where are you?" "If you're hurt, call out to us!" Celestia cried, but still there was no answer. "Where could they be?" It was then she heard noise and looked around to see someone walking towards them. "Flash? Trixie?" But it wasn't them. "Celestia?" Ancient Bones stepped out of the tree's shadows, "what are you doing out here with these explosions going off?" "Two of my students are missing," Celestia told him. "Have you seen them anywhere?" Bones shook his head, explaining that he was trying to find the cause of the explosions. He hadn't seen anyone since that last big boom. "They've gotta be somewhere," Applejack told them. But as she said that, a suddenly blur of speed shot towards them and stopped to reveal a very freaked out Rainbow. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked, as the rainbow-haired speedster held up something she was holding. "I went to check out where that big explosion was and...and I found this." They all stared at the object and realised it was Trixie's phone, the lot of them now absolutely terrified. "Guys. I found this by a massive pile of rocks." They didn't need to be told any more. The lot of them followed Rainbow towards the area she found the rocks, praying that Trixie and Flash were both okay. Flash and Trixie made their way further into the tunnel knowing that the way they came was out of the question as an escape route. All the while, their new friend was tagging along behind them. "Do you think there's another way out of here?" Trixie asked, as they turned a corner. Flash wasn't sure how to respond, though his first thought to that question was the fact that since these creatures had never been seen before, it was very unlikely there was another way out. The baby dinosaur growled a happy growl as he ran ahead of them, jumping onto a large rock in the tunnel and beginning to gnaw on it. "I'm hoping so," Flash eventually told her. "But if all else fails, we'll head back to the cavern we came in from and I'll fly us out of here as Firefly." "What about those crooks?" Trixie asked. "I do want to try and save them, but with all these tunnels down here who knows which direction they ran in." Trixie nodded and as they turned another corner, Flash suddenly stopped and held out his hand. "Do you feel that?" Trixie held up her hand and sure enough, she felt it. "A breeze." "Which must mean there's a way out!" Flash cheered, running forward with Trixie and the baby behind him. They followed the breeze through the many tunnels, the air getting fresher and fresher by the moment. And eventually, they turned a corner and spotted a bright light at the end of a tunnel. "Freedom!" But as soon as he was out of the tunnel, he realised he was anything but free. The tunnel had led into a giant underground chamber, which was full of lush vegetation such as fruit trees they had never seen before and multiple small rivers originating from several holes in the walls that fed a large central lake. Giant pillars were sticking out of the ground and went all the way to the ceiling, these pillars being covered in moss and other plants. And the very top of the chamber had a large hole in it and surrounding that hole, was a circle of crystals giving off as much light as a superpowered high-beam. But the most shocking thing about this chamber were the many dinosaurs that inhabited it. The same dinosaur they had just gotten very well acquainted with, all of differing colours and stripes. Some were eating fruit off the trees. Others were diving into the water and coming back up with fish in their mouths. And many more were simply lying around looking content. "Wow," both Flash and Trixie whispered as they saw it all. As they did, their new friend rushed down into the chamber looking happy to be home. They then spotted the mother dinosaur they had escaped coming out of another hole, the pair leaping behind a rock and watching as the mother spotted its baby and quickly scooped it up. It looked around and the pair ducked down, not wanting to be seen. "I can't believe there's an entire species living underground," Trixie whispered. "I can't believe we're the ones that discovered them." Flash continued to look around, amazed by these creatures. He spotted a small area besides one of the tunnels that looked like it was some kind of nursery, as many of the babies could be seen playing inside a circle of rocks too big for them to climb over. But as he watched, he saw something that made him frowned. "Great." "What?" Trixie asked, Flash pointing towards the nursery. She frowned when she saw someone climbing over the wall. Rickashay. Big Score and Boulder were on the other side of the rock, as Rickashay landed inside the nursery and tried to grab one of the babies. "Seriously? They saw what doing that with one giant dinosaur around did. Are they really stupid enough to try it with hundreds." Flash sighed, "guess I'd better go save him." He started sneaking down the side of the stone path they were on, heading down into the chamber whilst doing his best to stay out of sight. Trixie went with him and as they moved, Rickashay managed to grab one of the babies. "Come along little guy," he picked the pink with yellow stripes dinosaur up. "You're going to be auctioned off to a nice new owner." But the baby didn't seem to like that idea and managed to bite down on his hand. "YOW!" His cries echoed through the chamber, catching the dinosaur's attention. One by one, they all turned towards the nursery and saw the three strange new creatures that had invaded their home and now threatened their offspring. The mother who had seen them before growled and jumped towards them, several others doing the same as Rickashay climbed back over the rocks. "You idiot!" Score told him, as the dinosaurs began to surround them. Flash saw this and knew he had to step in, so activated the Omnitrix and rushed forwards before slapping it down and unleashing a bright light. "Don't eat us!" But as one of the dinosaur's tried to slash at him, a crystal spike shot out of the ground and blocked it. "He's right you know." They turned to the voice and all saw Diamondhead standing there with a hand on the ground, "you really shouldn't eat them. Humans are just full of saturated fats." The dinosaurs roared as they charged, with Diamondhead charging as well. "Sorry about this!" He turned his fists into giant hammers and swung them about, knocking the dinosaurs away as he and Trixie ran towards the crooks. "We're getting out of here!" "No way!" Score cried, "not without at least one money making reptile." Diamondhead rolled his eyes at this and hit the ground, causing something to appear under their feet. It was a crystal platform, which confused them until the crystal suddenly started growing in the spherical fashion. "WAIT!" Within seconds, he was sealed within a crystal sphere with a few small gaps in it that would allow them to breath. "Raaaah!" Diamondhead punched the ground and in doing so, a pillar shot out of the ground under the sphere and knocked it flying into the air. The crooks screamed as they flew into one of the holes and started rolling through it, whilst Diamondhead continued to fight the beasts attacking them. He reached back and pulled out his shoulder spikes, which took the shape of boomerangs that he threw and used to knock down several dinosaurs. But the number of dinosaurs attacking them were getting larger and larger by the moments. "Hold on!" He grabbed Trixie underarm and stomped his feet, causing another pillar to shoot out from under them and fling them into the air. Trixie screamed as Diamondhead flipped through the air several times, the alien then shooting a path of diamonds that formed a slide they landed on and slid towards the hole on. Once they were inside the tunnel, Diamondhead created a wall of crystals that blocked it off completely. "That...was too close," Trixie panted as she picked herself up. "We need to get out of here before those things find us again." Diamondhead agreed and turned towards the crystal cage, which had stopped rolling several feet away. When they reached it, he created another pillar that hit the cage and knocked it rolling down the tunnel. They would keep doing this until he timed out or they found a way out of there. The red and white dinosaur slashed at the crystal wall, trying to break through it with little success. It let out a roar of anger, wanting to get back at the creatures that invaded their home and tried to steal their children. And so, it turned towards the ceiling and stared at the crystal surrounded hole before letting out a mighty roar. That roar echoed through the cavern and eventually reached the hole, allowing what was inside it to hear. A few moments later, movement could be seen within the hole and a pair of bright red eyes illuminated it. Trixie and Diamondhead continued to make their way through the tunnels, Diamondhead knocking the cage forward every few feet with the crooks inside screaming and crying out that they would be sick. Trixie frowned as she looked at all the holes in the walls. "Those things aren't gonna sit around for very long. They'll find us." Diamondhead knew she was right, but didn't know what to say. Until they could find a way out of there, there were nothing but sitting ducks. Then he looked ahead and saw something. "Hey," he moved forward and knocked the cage into a chamber up ahead. When they reached this chamber, he looked up and smiled. "Well what do you know." Trixie looked up and saw a long tunnel heading straight up, with a bunch of rocks filling the top. "Is this?" "The same place we came in," Diamondhead nodded. "Yup. "How do we get up there?" Trixie asked, with Diamondhead smirking as he tried to crack his uncrackable knuckles. "Simple. I just make a tower beneath us that'll lift us to the surface. Then I'll break through the top and we'll be free." Trixie nodded with a smirk as Diamondhead prepared to do just that. But before they could, something caught their attention. A roar. It wasn't a loud one, but they had a feeling it would be if it was up close. They looked towards one of the tunnels and as they did, the ground beneath their feet shook. "I don't like the sound of that," Trixie gulped. "Get us out of here!" Diamondhead didn't need to be told twice and he slammed his hands into the ground, causing a crystal bowl to grow out of the ground around them. The bowl was then lifted upwards, pushing them towards the surface. Trixie moved to and looked over the edge, hearing another roar that was much louder echo out of the tunnel. And the one that made it leapt out and revealed itself. "Whoa," she whispered at the sight of it. It was bigger than the other ones. Thinking back to the diagram she saw earlier, this one was a half size bigger then a T-Rex. It was light blue and covered in white stripes. And it did not look happy. It looked up at the tower and spotted her, Trixie gasping and pulling her head back. "Flash. Can you go faster?" "I'm...going as fast as I can," Diamondhead replied. "Relax, we're safe. It's not like it can knock this thing over." Trixie wanted to believe him, but the size of that thing made her think differently. And sure enough, a moment later the entire tower shook. She rushed over to the side, expecting to see the beast attacking the tower. But it wasn't. It was climbing it. "FLASH!" She rushed over to him and Diamondhead had a feeling he had to get ready for a fight. And seconds later, the beast arrived at the top of the tower and snarled. "WOW!" Diamondhead cried before touching the floor again, causing the side of the bowl to grow spikes. The beast leapt off the tower and used its claws to dig into the side of the walls around them, then quickly moved up above them with incredible speed. Trixie and Diamondhead saw and watched as it turned to glare at them, then leapt off the wall and feel right towards them. "Oh no you don't!" Diamondhead cried as he made more spike grow out of the bowl's top, the beast about to land right on top of them. But then, it did something they weren't expecting. It brought its arms to its side and pulled them away, doing so revealing a yellow coloured membrane that connected its wrists to its knees. "No...way," the pair said in unison. The beast used its knew wings to stop its descent, allowing it to hover above them. It then tried to slash at them with its claws, Diamondhead quickly turning the bowl into an orb. The claw slashed against it and the orb shook, but remained in tact. "Since when do those things have wings?" Trixie asked in shock. "Maybe it's something they develop later in life," Diamondhead guessed. "Or...maybe that one is just special. Either way, it's a problem." "Maybe if we stay in here, it'll get bored and leave." The orb shook, though remained in tact. "I don't think it'll get bored. And we can't stay in here forever. This thing is airtight, meaning the only air we have is whatever was in it when I sealed it." "Then lift us up to the top!" Trixie cried. "And let that thing out? It'll attack anything it sees. And anyone." Trixie realised what he meant and nodded, Diamondhead looking up as the orb shook again. "We have to trap it beneath us before sealing it under here." He hit the floor and doing so caused the orb to shatter and fly in every direction, the beast pulling back and barely managing to keep itself from getting stabbed. As it did, some of the shards hit the rocks sealing the roof and caused them to break apart and fall away. As the creature clung to the wall, Diamondhead made the tower go upwards and once they were above it, he made the gems grow sideways to try and seal it. It might have worked, if the Omnitrix didn't start beeping. "No, no, NOOO!" Diamondhead cried as he was consumed by light and reverted back to his human form. "Not now!" The tower shook and as it did, the teen rushed over to the criminal's cage and hid behind it. The beast pulled its head up and looked around, trying to find them as the pair did their best to make as little noise as possible. It pulled itself up onto the platform and moved towards the cage, sniffing the air. It then leapt up and stuck its feet onto the cage, Flash and Trixie crying out and jumping away as it tried to snap at them. The beast growled but before it could attack, something hit its head. It looked up and saw the rocks above them were starting to give way, allowing light to flow in and shine down upon them. The creature appeared curious about this mysterious new world that had been open to it, so got into a leaping position. "It's gonna fly up out of the cave!" Trixie cried, Flash realising they couldn't let it leave them behind. "Move!" He grabbed Trixie and pulled her towards the beast, both of them managing to grab onto its tail. "Going up!" Flash cried as the beast took off, pulling them up along with it. "Top floor, sporting goods and mens wear!" As they flew upwards, they realised the cage had become lodged in the beast claws and was coming up with them. And quickly, they reached the top of the cave. "Hold on!" Rewind a few minutes. Up above, the Rainbooms were hard at work trying to get the rocks away. But they had quickly discovered the truth about them, how they were actually acting as a plug that blocked a hole they had no idea how deep it was. As such, the lot of them were forced to stay off the rocks for fear of the pile falling into the hole with them falling along with it. Celestia had gone off the call a rescue crew and later returned with the entire student body, the lot of them quickly helping in whatever way they could. "Hurry!" Twilight cried as she lifted another big rock with her magic, Applejack doing the same to another one and throwing it. "They can't have that much air left!" "We've been digging non-stop!" Rainbow cried, "how have we not reached the bottom yet?" The others didn't want to answer, fearing what that could mean for Flash and Trixie. Then, Spike's ears perked up. "Hey, I think I just heard something." He listened out and lowered his head to the ground, "sounds like it's coming from below." "Is it Flash and Trixie?" Sunset asked, but got her answer when they all heard a quiet but noticeable roar. "That didn't sound like Flash and Trixie," Fluttershy gulped. They continued listening and heard more roars, wondering what the heck was happening under there. Then they heard voices, the lot of them realising it must have been their trapped friends. Something must have been attacking them. "Keep digging!" Applejack yelled as she started punching the rocks to break them apart. But as she did, something suddenly impacted against the other side of the rocks, causing the whole thing to pulse. "WOW!" Applejack fell backwards, as something stuck out of the rock she had been next too. "What's that?" Pinkie asked, the lot taking a closer look and seeing it was a very familiar crystal spike. "Diamondhead," Twilight realised as she tried to use her magic to pull the crystal out. "Diamondhead must be under there." They were all about to ask how an alien got under there, but Twilight pried the crystal free before they could. This caused the rocks to start shifting, a few falling downwards. "Everybody off the rock pile!" Celestia cried, "it's gonna collapse again!" They all began to climb off the rocks and as they did, they heard another roar coming from below. And seconds later, the rock pile exploded. Everyone cried out as they ran to avoid the rocks, Twilight grabbing as many as she could in her magic whilst Rarity put up as many shields as she was able. And as they did, they were greeted to the sight of a giant reptile soaring up out of the hole. Ancient Bones stared at the creature and when it was fully revealed, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Impossible." "Ain't that the creature that's supposed to be dead?" Applejack asked, with the others nodding and unable to believe they were seeing a real life dinosaur in the flesh. "And since when can it fly?" As she said that, the creature reached a good twenty feet in the air and they saw it was carrying a crystal orb. Then they noticed who was holding onto the end of its tail. "FLASH!" Twilight cried. "TRIXIE!" Sunset gasped as the beast floated in the air and looked around, seeing the many strange new things all around it. Then it began to glide over the forest, letting out a mighty roar as it tried to find something to eat. As it did, the crystal cage finally broke off of its claws and fell towards the ground. Luckily for those trapped inside, the trees began to break its fall. Flash and Trixie noticed the trees and realised this was their best chance. "Jump!" Flash yelled, he and Trixie letting go of the tail and falling. Flash was able to grab onto a branch and Trixie's hood got caught on another, the pair hanging there and watching as the giant dinosaur glided above the trees. "What do we do now?" Trixie asked, Flash answering by beginning to climb down. "Right." Back at the site of the hole, Ancient Bones had moved back to look down the tunnel. "Professor!" Celestia called out to him, "it's not safe. The edge could give way and you could fall." But Bones wasn't listening, to preoccupied with what he had just seen. "It's alive. This is the find of the century. Maybe the millenium. It's alive and has been living down there all this time. Who knows how many more of them there could be." Others were also interested in the tunnel, many making their way over to it. And as they did, the beast stopped sightseeing to look back at its way home. And when it saw the many people gathering around it, its instincts took over and it let out a mighty roar. One that made everyone around the hole take notice and turn to it. They all gasped when the dinosaur changed directions and flew towards them. "It's coming back!" Pinkie cried, as the beast let out another roar. Fluttershy's geode glowed and as it did, she gasped. "It's telling us to keep away!" The others turned to her in surprise, as the beast roared again. "It thinks we're after the rest of its nest." "Rest of its nest?" Bones asked, but was grabbed by Principal Celestia. "We need to go...now!" She dragged him away and the rest of the people began to run, as the beast got closer and closer. The dinosaur landed near the hole and retracted its wings, instead beginning to slash at anyone still close to the hole. It would have cut someone in two, had Rarity not but up a shield to deflect its claws. "Back off!" Rainbow cried, though she wasn't sure what her super speed could do against such a large creature. Pinkie threw some sprinkles at it, whilst Applejack and Twilight threw the rocks that had been blown away from the hole. But none of these things did anything to harm the creature, the explosions not even scratching its scaly hide whilst it cut the rocks to pebbles. "That didn't work like we hoped," Applejack gulped as the beast raised its claws and thrust them down as if trying to crush them under its hand. Luckily, Rarity was able to shield them all. But the force of the impact caused her dome to crack. "I...can't hold this forever!" She cried, as the lizard pulled its arm up to strike again. But Twilight managed to grab the creature in her magic before it could, pushing it back a little bit since its size wasn't something she could lift. As it staggered back, Rarity dropped most of the shield and they ran away from it, whilst the creature looked ready to take flight again. "Wait!" Sunset told them, stopping in her tracks. "We can't let that thing take to the air. What if it attacks our class, or heads towards a city? We have to keep it here!" "How?" Rarity asked, putting up another shield around them in case the beast charged. "Spread out!" Sunset yelled, the lot of the splitting up and circling around the dinosaur. As the creature regained its balance, it looked around and saw the girls making noise with some even throwing boulders, gems and explosions at it. As this was going on, Flash and Trixie arrived at the edge of the woods. They looked out and saw the Rainbooms distracting the beast, who swung at them with its claws and tail. Rainbow began to run around it in a circle, trying to make it dizzy. But the beast simple slammed its tail onto the ground hard enough to shake it. "WOW!" She cried, losing balance and falling to the ground. "There's no way they can beat that thing!" Trixie cried as Rarity shielded Rainbow, who barely managed to get up and run to a safe distance. "If that thing was made of Equestrian Magic, they'd have probably beaten it by now. But..." Flash frowned as Twilight threw another rock at the monster, who backhanded it back towards her and made her leap to safety. As the rock shattered and sent other pieces flying, Flash heard a ding and saw the Omnitrix turn green. "Yes." He activated it and started flicking through his aliens, "it's time to bury this living fossil." He found his alien of choice and slapped it down. As Twilight picked herself up, the creature looked ready to swallow the lot of them whole. The beast spread its wings and looked ready to take off, likely bored with these silly games and wanting to chow down on a more fruitful and less magical prey. But as it leapt up to take flight, something grabbed onto its tail and the dinosaur suddenly found itself falling to the ground and crashing into the field. "Gotcha!" They all heard, the lot of them looking around the beast and seeing an alien rhino holding the creature's tail. As the dinosaur recovered, Riot-Horn began pulling it backwards towards the hole. "Alright, big guy. Time for you to go home!" But as he said that, the beast shook its head to blow away the cobwebs before it started swinging its tail around. "Wow!" He was swung to the left, he was swung to the right, he was swung up and down. "We've gotta help him!" Twilight cried, seeing the alien wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. She grabbed some more rocks and threw them at the creature, trying to aim for its eyes. It clearly didn't appreciate that so spun on the spot, swinging its tail around. "GYAH!" Riot-Horn roared as he was pulled along for the ride, the Rainbooms ducking down to avoid getting their heads lopped off. The dinosaur swung its tail back around and then tried to slam it down on Twilight and the others, but Riot-Horn managed to dig his feet into the ground and stop that. "Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, as Riot-Horn let out a groan. "Peachy!" The dinosaur then lifted its tail up again and Riot-Horn was pulled along, the girls gasping as they saw the creature crouch down again. "It's gonna take off!" Twilight cried as she looked up at Riot-Horn. "Let go of its tail!" But before he could, the beast shot straight up and let out a massive wave of wind that Rarity barely shielded them all against. "Don't let go of its tail!" Riot-Horn clutched the beast's tail as hard as it could, the monster swinging it around trying to dislodge him as it reached the top of its leap. It spread its wings and floated in the air, all the while lifting its tail up to try and slash at the alien clutching it. "I'm starting to get the feeling this was a bad idea!" Riot-Horn yelled as the creature began flying around and swinging its tail, the alien trying to think of a way to end this without getting himself killed. It was then that they floated above the hole, Riot-Horn getting an idea but not really liking it. "Not sure I have much more of a choice!" He cried as the creature's tail in a bunch of different directions. He waited for just the right moment and...the tail swung upwards. "Now!" He let go and the momentum sent the alien flying straight up, the dinosaur not expecting this or the uppercut that slammed into its chin. It roared in pain as Riot-Horn flew up above it, allowing his horns to soak up as much sunlight as possible. And as gravity began to take effect, he pulled his fist back and covered it up as the energy flew from his horns into it. "It's time you went home!" He roared as he fell towards the beast and just before he slammed into it, he threw his fist forward with all the strength he was able to muster. "SOLAR STRIKER!" His covered fist smashed into the creature's stomach so hard, a loud booming sound filled the air. The Rainbooms covered their ears as the dinosaur let out a mighty roar of pain, the force of the punch sending it flying downwards so fast its wings couldn't stop it. It fell into the hole and disappeared from sight, as Riot-Horn fell towards the ground and lifted his fists up. "MOVE!" Sunset cried when she realised what was about to happen, the Rainbooms all running as fast as they could. When Riot-Horn hit the ground, he slammed both fists into it and caused a massive shockwave to spread throughout the earth and make it shake. This caused earth around the hole to break apart and start to fall into it, causing the entire area to sink a little as the tunnel leading down into the earth was sealed up. A large amount of dust was kicked up by this and the Rainbooms coughed when they tried to see what had happened. When the dust finally began to settle, all they saw was a large crater where the clearing had once been. The rocks and mud that used to make up the field was packed in tight around the edges, sealing off the hole that had once been there. "Riot-Horn!" Twilight cried, looking around and seeing no sign of the humanoid rhino. "What happened to him." "You think he got buried?" Rarity asked, the lot looking fearful. But Sunset shook her head. "I don't think so. He might seem like a meathead, but he's not stupid enough to bury himself with his own attack." Sure enough, Riot-Horn had managed to escape the crater and was now hiding deep within the trees. He leaned against a tree panting as he waited for his time to run out, Trixie stepping up to him with a smirk. "Not bad dino-slayer." Riot-Horn smirked but knew he didn't have time to sit around. He picked himself up and headed back towards the area the crystal cage was waiting. Fifteen minutes later, the Rainbooms continued to search for the alien and their friends. As it turned out, they found two of those things. "Flash!" Sunset cried as they spotted him and Trixie sitting against a giant crystal sphere. "Trixie. You're both okay." "Barely," Flash told them. "We almost got eaten a bunch of times down there." "What the heck happened to you guys?" Twilight asked, then turned to the crystal prison. "And what is this thing." She looked inside, only to see three barely conscious and very dizzy individuals laying inside. "Who are these three." "The ones that set off the explosions," Trixie explained. "It's...a long story." "I get the feeling there's gonna be a lot of questions when we get back to the bus," Twilight sighed. "Especially about where the heck that dinosaur came from." She gave them a serious look, "are there more of them underground." "Hundreds," Flash told her before realising something. "But...I don't think they are dinosaurs." The others gave him a curious look. "Remember what Bones said, about the fossil only being a few thousand years old?" They nodded as Flash looked up at the sky. "Something like that, that was so big but still able to fly like that and fight so well. I don't think something like that could have evolved on earth." "Are you trying to say you think it's an alien?" Rarity asked, with Flash just shrugging back. "it's a possibility. Who knows. Maybe a few thousand years ago, they managed to find a way onto this planet. Then they were trapped underground and have been living there ever since. I don't know. It just feels like that's what happened." The girls couldn't deny that for some reason, that seemed to make sense. A creature like that, evolving on earth just didn't seem possible. And they knew aliens were real, so maybe that creature really was an alien dinosaur. Either way, they all knew they had a lot of questions to answer when they got back. The police would take the criminals into custody, Flash and Trixie would make up an elaborate story about why they were trapped underground and Bones would want to know everything they had seen whilst trapped. Flash hoped nobody would attempt to uncover those creatures again. After what he had seen, he felt they were better off left alone. Clearly this was a species that didn't need humanity messing things up for them. But he knew one day, their two races would meet again. And hopefully, that meeting would be a good one.