-INSTALLATION: THE ISLAND-
A sudden force darts through the bushes of a fairly dense forest as dirt, grass, and fallen foliage are disturbed by an equine's rapid hoof steps. Small droplets of the ever-present morning rainshower moisten the soil, and several clouds block the sun's luminous glow.
-That’s right, big guy!- Rainbow Dash shouts internally, adorned in her Hide Armor while her damaged wing is still wrapped in a fine gray cloth. -Just a little further. I’ve got a surprise for your fat hide.-
Thunderous footsteps began to overshadow her own from behind, and Rainbow Dash kept her gaze locked forth as a clearing came into view. The rich electric blue mare exits the forest and slides down a small hill connected to a beach in her current direction.
The pegasus stops in place and before the ocean, turning back to the forest in one swift and fluent motion. But her eyes shift towards a large boulder that sat nearby, and a smirk forms on her muzzle.
Rainbow Dash’s pursuer soon breaks out into the open, its thunderous stomps coming to a momentary pause as it surveys the area.
The Carnotaurus spots the rainbow-maned equine and resumes its pursuit as its muscular legs propel it through the sand. The horned predator opens its maw in delicious anticipation while letting loose a built-up roar from its throat. But before the dinosaur could reach its chosen prey, Rainbow Dash bites her lower lip and performs a sharp whistle.
A swift and agile presence makes itself known as it hops onto the same boulder the pegasus had glanced towards, revealing the dark-green and snarling form of Vanellope, who jumps into action and leaps off the landmass.
Vanellope rushes towards the Carnotaurus like a silent assassin with her claws at the ready. And as the Carno stomps its way towards a smirking Rainbow Dash, Vanelope pounces onto the beast and hurriedly latches herself onto the predator’s back. This causes the dinosaur to skid to a halt in the sand before attempting to get the raptor off, but to no avail.
Vanellope bites into the beast's back and tears unhesitantly into the Carno’s flesh with her claws. On top of this, her rendering toes go to work, especially when her sickled toe digs the farthest and gnashes the larger predator’s hide.
The Carnotaurus displays a modicum of intelligence as it proceeds to roll over in an attempt to crush the raptor. But Vanellope had already dismounted the beast upon both realization and a warning call from Rainbow Dash.
The Carno gets back onto its feet with Vanellope’s full display efforts and streams of blood flowing down the dinosaur’s back before dripping onto the sand. At least by the Island’s standards, the medium-sized predator roars out and lowers its head to ram into the raptor with a charge.
Another whistle sounds off from Rainbow Dash in the short distance, and Vanellope hops to the side in response just before the Carno’s larger frame careens past her.
A disturbance of kicked-up sand can be heard as the Carno turns around to attempt another charge, but during this time, Rainbow Dash had hurriedly mounted Vanellope and called forth a bow from her inventory.
The Carno charges forth, but an arrow greets the beast’s forehead before several more are fired during its rapid approach, each one penetrating around the same general area. More and more arrows are let loose upon the encroaching dinosaur while Rainbow Dash counts:
“Forty-three, forty-two, forty-one.”
The pegasus counts the remaining arrows she has within her inventory, and upon reaching “thirty-nine,” the Carnotaurus’s head goes limp, and its legs seem to stop propelling the beast forward. The dinosaur travels a short distance in the sand on its stomach region, and Vanellope steps aside as the very snout of the mid-sized predator stops where she once stood.
A stream of air escapes the Carno’s nostrils, signifying the dinosaur’s passing along with the orange text that pops up before Rainbow Dash’s eyes via her implant:
You killed a Carno - Lvl 16!
However, this is soon followed by a green text:
VANELLOPE HAS A LEVEL-UP AVAILABLE! Access Tame inventory to Apply it!
“Oh, awesome!”
The rainbow pegasus excitedly dismounts the raptor and accesses their implant via her own.
“Ok. What’ll it be, Vanellope?”
The dinosaur chirps.
“Ah. Right,” Rainbow responds before rubbing the back of her neck with a forelimb. “I can’t talk to you like Fluttershy does,” She ponders for a moment, “I got it! How about you chirp for yes, and growl for no. Sounds good?”
Vanellope nods.
“Wow. I know I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but it’s pretty awesome that you can understand us even though you can’t talk. Alright then. First thing’s first: Health?”
[GROWL]
“Speed?”
[GROWL]
“Hey! I resent that,” Rainbow chuckles, “But eh, it’s your choice. How about stamina?”
[GROWL]
“Weight?”
Vanellope turns her gaze to Rainbow Dash with a small smirk before looking away and letting out a small playful growl.
Rainbow blinks her eyes a few times and comes to a realization with narrowed features.
“Wait… did you just call me fat?!”
Vanellope’s head and eyes look skyward as if saying: ‘Maaaaybe.’
Rainbow bares her teeth with her ever-narrowed gaze. “Applejack put you up to that, didn’t she? Hat-wearing troll.” She rolls her eyes, uncertain whether this was the farm mare’s doing or Vanellope’s own gesture.
“Next one: Melee Damage?”
[CHIRPS]
“A little typical, but if you say so,” The pegasus responds before applying the enhancement. As a result, Vanellope’s muscles can be seen flexing all over her body while her tail swayed up and down.
Vanellope performs a little dance as she rises and lowers her head with her arms and claws folded closely to her chest before hopping a few times in place. However, the enhancement seems to have stirred her hunger as she then turned to the Carno’s corpse, ran up to it, and bit into the mass of flesh. Vanellope tears off a handsome chunk of meat and raises her head to swallow her meal before repeating the process. All while Rainbow Dash sits on her flank and allows the dinosaur to enjoy their well-deserved feast.
Rainbow brings out her map to gain her bearings:
“Ok. It looks like we’re not too far from that swamp we visited before.” 
The morning rainfall persists even on the western side of the installation, and several familiar entities are traveling through the skies, passing over various mountains and plains with herds of herbivorous dinosaurs going about their lives.
“Thanks a bunch fer dropp’n me off, Fluttershy,” Applejack comments as she’s being transported within the claws of the tribe’s dark-green Pteranodon, who’s latched onto the earth pony’s shoulders.
“No problem,” The pegasus responds, piloting the flyer and mounted on its back. “Are you sure that you want to do this so far away from home?”
“As serious as Rainbow Dash in a barrel of cider. Besides, it’s in uncharted territory, ‘least fer us. And ah think it’s time we started spreadin’ out more and gett’n familiar with this place.”
Applejack brings forth a map from her inventory:
“There’s gonna be a beach up ahead. Go on ‘n set me down ov’r there, and once you do, fly on outta here. Remember, Fluttershy: we ain’t alone out here, so ah don’t wanna draw attention to neither of us.”
“O-ok,” Fluttershy responds with a nod. She then looks to her left and observes one of the three floating wonders of the Island:
“Oh, my.”
Applejack also turns towards the Red Obelisk. “To think these things ‘r float’n back home, too… mighty strange stuff.”
A moment of silence ensues.
“A-Applejack?”
“Yeah, sugar cube?”
“I’m so sorry for getting mad at you for the whole Spinosaurus incident three days ago. Pinkie and I-”
“There ain’t nothin’ to be sorry for, Fluttershy,” Applejack interjects gently. “Ah could nev’r be mad at either of yas fer such a thin’. Look, I get why you two got mad, but try to see it from-”
“That’s actually why I brought this up,” Fluttershy interrupts. “Pinkie and I have been talking, and we understand. We truly, genuinely do. She wanted to apologize, but everyone had already left by the time we got downstairs. Plus, the Demon King paying us a visit kind of, well, motivated us.”
Applejack chuckles. “It’s funny. Ah’m mighty afraid of that fell’r, n yet, that’s what it took to get us even more serious. Ah guess I’m trying to say that strangely… I’m grateful to em.”
……….
After some time the trio comprised of two ponies and a pterosaur begins to approach the beach of Applejack’s choosing. The orange mare narrows her eyes as she takes in the sight before them, even recalling HLN-A’s past words from earlier in the morning.
-Never stay in the open for too long, love. Once you reach your destination, you must run to cover and hide amongst the greenery. There you can grow and develop, but always remember to stay wary of other survivors that you do manage to run into.-
Fluttershy taps the upper portions of the flyer’s crest with her left forehoof, which causes the pterosaur to descend. The flyer goes lower and lower at a steady pace, and before long, Applejack’s dangling hindlegs are merely six feet above the sand.
“Now, Fluttershy!” The cowmare bellows.
“Ok! Please be careful, Applejack!” The pegasus responds. “Please let her go, Pterano.”
Applejack is then dropped as Pterano’s claws detached from her shoulders. The cowmare performs a maneuverable roll upon reaching the ground, and in one swift motion, with the built-up momentum, she’s fast on her hooves and darts towards the nearby treeline - her orange form disappearing into the wilds.
During that time, Fluttershy hurriedly ordered the flyer to turn around; soaring over the forestation before passing by the Red Obelisk again.
“Well done, Pterano,” She comments, patting the pterosaur’s crest, “I’ll always worry about my friends, but I believe in them,” She takes a breath, sighs with closed eyes, and opens them with a determined expression.
“And I think it’s about time I earned that title of Beast Quee-”
Suddenly, the pegasus’s words are interjected as Pterano performs his version of a squawk, his head facing what caused his discomfort. Fluttershy follows the panicking flyer’s gaze to four other Pteranodons approaching from a direction just east of the Red Obelisk. And each one is ridden by a Gigantopithecus of different build, height, and gender.
“Look what we got here, boys!” One of the riders shouts—female, from what Fluttershy could hear.
Dark-brown fur with patches of white is among the first details the pegasus could make out that weren’t concealed by their apparel. If she recalled correctly, the equipment’s primitive makeup matched the description of Chitin Armor.
“Get your bets ready because I think we found another contender for Lord Threx’s arena!”
“Wh-who… who are you?” Fluttershy inquires as the three larger gigantos surround her with their flyers, pulling along brown banners with emblems that the pegasus recognized as a Tyrannosaurus’ skull.
“Please, I’m not a threat- EEP!” Fluttershy suddenly squeaks in shock as, during her talks, the female giganto had shot into the air with a firearm they manifested from their inventory.
“My name’s Craglorn,” She aims the weapon at the pegasus, her left index finger ready to pull the trigger. “And you’re fucking coming with us.”
A series of quick steps trek through the snowy side trails of a mountain, accompanied by canine panting and waving silver/gray fur. The snow fell gracefully and delicately all around the wolf, or more accurately: Direwolf.
In the distance and towards the lower portions of the mountain, the Direwolf could see three traveling beasts of such great mass and power, covered in wool that offers protection against their snowy environment: the Wooly Mammoth. In addition, a single prehistoric relative of the rhinoceros - also covered in dense fur - can be seen scraping its enormous horn against a large tree, and deer-like entities gracefully jump from different cliff faces with the antler-bearing bull in the lead of its doe harem.
The Direwolf suddenly stops on the trail, raises its head, and lets out their kind’s iconic melody as it howls into the vast tundra. The song practically travels across the Snow Biome as if carried along by the forces of the Ark itself. However, a strange mist of yellow and orange seemed to flare up like flames from the canine's body.
The canine lowers its head after finishing its song, and as it stares further up the mountain’s trail in momentary silence, its former melody is then greeted by three more howls - three more songs from three other individuals.
The former trio appears before their silver counterpart, each positioning themselves side by side as they block the path with their formation.
The silver wolf wags its tail. “So, you guys just gonna stand there or-”
“ASTRID!!!” The two brown Direwolves shout happily in unison, both of whom are male. As for the third silver/gray canine with patches of brown on its head and body, they panted excitedly while also wagging their tail.
“Hello, Birger, Bjarte,” Astrid’s feminine voice responds, filled with strength and wisdom.
“Hello?” Birger inquires as he, Bjarte, and their third companion approach Astrid. “You’ve been gone for two whole days, and all you have to say is: ‘Hello.’?”
“Yeah, big sis!” Bjarte exclaims in agreement. “You have no idea how worried the others got. Especially mother and father,” He folds his ears against his head, lowers himself to the ground, and whimpers. “Mother’s fury was terrifying…”
The third Direwolf barks a few times before running into Astrid and nuzzling her.
“Sister Asta had to be forcefully held in place by four members of the Pack,” Birger continues. “She was so worried that she threatened to charge out of our territory and track you down.”
“I understand,” Astrid responds as she breaks away from nuzzling her sibling. “I shouldn’t have disappeared like that, dear brothers and sister. Forgive me. But I smelled something in the winds and had to investigate.”
“Well, I hope it was worth it,” Bjarte comments, lifting himself and standing at his full stature. “Words can’t express how angry our parents are, not to mention the elders. And if your howl reached their ears, well…”
On cue, distant howls emanate from the mountain’s summit as if an army is beckoning to them.
“And there it is,” Birger states as he and his siblings look towards the summit. “Yeah… mom’s howl is the loudest, and I don’t need to tell you why that is, Astrid.”
Astrid sighs. “I can’t blame her. With the war going on against the Argent Legion, it’s only natural. Ancestors, what was I thinking…”
“Can you at least tell us what got your interest?” Bjarte inquires.
Asta barks.
Astrid nods to her siblings and turns in the direction of Carnivore/Dead Island, the Demon King’s Mountain, and Sanctuary. She moves onto a nearby elevation, and her siblings join her as Asta stands beside her while Birger sits on his hind with Bjarte beside him.
“I needed to ensure the pack's safety, so I’ve been observing some… strangers.”
“For the Pack!” Birger shouts.
“For the Pack!” Bjarte exclaims.
Asta barks.
Astrid chuckles, having turned her gaze towards them. “For the Pack, dearest siblings,” She looks outward again. “These strangers are dominantly made of Equus, but the likes of which I had never seen before.”
Astrid’s siblings turn to her with interest.
“Some of them have wings, and others possess horns - much like the legends our ancestors have recorded.”
“No way…” Bjarte comments in amazement. “So those things were real?”
“I’m more shocked by ones with wings,” Birger said. “We have no records about any of those equines possessing wings.”
Asta lets loose a small bark.
“But there’s three among them that sticks out most to me,” Astrid continues. “One is lavender, and this Equus is a combination of the others. Another is some strange flying thing made of metal and shining lights,” She turns her head towards the distant Green Obelisk, “Similar to… those.”
“Ancestors…” Birger said in awe.
“So what about the third?” Bjarte inquires. “With how strange those other two sound, I doubt you could top them with the other one.”
However, Astrid’s siblings are stunned by what becomes plastered on her face: a mixture of fear and caution.
“Hear me well, dearest siblings. I’m not entirely sure about the third, but I could sense their potential danger. They look like a small purple Rex with the wings of those flying pterosaurs. And If I heard that name right…” Astrid narrows her eyes even further, and she lets loose a growl.
“Spike.”