//------------------------------// // Chapter 66 - Meet and Greet // Story: Ark: Friendship is Survival // by Pomp-Neigh //------------------------------// -Redwood Biome- The afternoon rays of the sun shine down upon the Ark, seeping into the windows of a particular structure. Having fallen unconscious from her sorrows, Twilight lies sideways on the incredibly large brown bed, her head digging into a pillow but positioned so that her horn doesn’t penetrate the nearby wall. The door to the outside world is suddenly opened, and a small, brown/white, feathery presence stands in the doorframe. It strides forth, its head bobbing up and down during its traversal. Almost akin to a type of bird. The entity flapped its wings and jumped on the Storage Box, which acted as a makeshift nightstand and was positioned just to the right of Twilight’s location. It chirps loudly, and although it doesn’t awaken the slumbering equine, the entity does garner a flickering response from Twilight’s ears.  With another flap, the small creature lands on the bedding and stands directly over Twilight’s head. It begins to tap the alicorn’s forehead with its snout repeatedly. “Mmmph…” Twilight slowly stirs to consciousness, her eyes slowly opening… only to shoot wide open in panic at what she sees standing before her. “Ahhhhh!”  The alicorn bolts onto her hooves and slowly backs away from what she now made out to be some type of raptor, but far smaller and seemingly akin to various species of birds. But those teeth… “Wh-wh-what are- ahhh!” Twilight suddenly falls over the left side of the bed, having backed away while disregarding the fact that the furnishing wasn’t ever-expanding. She tumbles and rolls on the floor, her back suddenly landing against the nearby wall with a window positioned just above her, propping her up and in place.     “Ahahahahaha!” The raptor laughed with a male tone. “That has got to be the funniest shit I’ve ever seen!” Twilight’s former fear is replaced with wonder and a hint of embarrassment, and her muzzle drops in tandem. What in the Ark was this creature? She inertly scolded herself for not going through Helena’s dossiers, gifted to them by HLN-A. Of course, they didn’t possess all of the dossiers.   The being’s laughter slowly dies down as they drape a wing across their right eye. “Ah, priceless. Well, my job here is done. Now hurry up and meet Granny and the others outside.”  The small, winged raptor hops off the bed with a flap, gracefully landing on the wooden floor and making his way to the exit.   “W-wait!” Twilight calls out, the raptor turning in place. “Who are you?” “You know you can see my identification, right?” He asked, deadpanning. “Seriously, don’t you conveniently have our name and levels floating over our heads? ‘Least that’s how Granny explained it to me.”  As appointed, Twilight’s gaze shifted to just above the raptor’s presence. Because of the spur of the moment, the alicorn had disregarded one of the implant’s greatest assets. Micropscus - Lvl 174 “Micropscus…” She stated.  Micropscus spins in place before striking a pose, dropping his head into the bent crook of a slanted, upwardly angled wing while raising the opposite wing out straight in a parallel direction.  “Micropscus, the Microraptor!” He laughs as he fluently turns back to the exit and departs by hopping onto the wooden railing, gliding downward and beyond Twilight’s sight. Twilight simply lies against the wall for a moment of shock. She then rises onto her hooves and looks back to her cutie mark, her implant.  “Microraptor… Microraptor…” She repeats as she looks through the various dossiers stored within. Nothing. Twilight possessed absolutely nothing on Microraptors.  “Luna, damn it…”    ………. Twilight emerges from the shelter, the sounds of nature gracing her ears as she even garners the attention of nearby Gigantopithecus positioned on Wooden Tree Platforms adjacent to her own. Despite having seen it before, she still couldn’t help but get lost in their way of life. It reminded her of home. These apes truly cared for each other, and their creations both rivaled and far exceeded what ponies had ever managed back on Equus.  Twilight chalked it up to her kind’s heavy reliance on magic or Element, but because of it, their infrastructure and technology were somewhat lacking. The same could be said for all races on Equus, but those thoughts of home only made her worry for the well-being of her loved ones. And to make matters worse, HLN-A had not received any more updates from their counterpart on that installation, with the most recent being Rockwell endangering all that she and her friends had ever held dear. “Hey, Mejoberry!” The sudden boom from Granny Pithecus garners the alicorn’s attention, seemingly coming from a downward direction. “Come on down ‘ere, girl! Ah got some friends ah want ya to meet!”  Twilight’s hooves clop against the foundation of the wooden platform, peeking through the wooden railing and looking down upon Granny: From what Twilight could make out, Granny is surrounded by several other entities, some of which she only recognized via her dossiers but never had the pleasure to meet physically. In truth, she was mildly nervous. But she is the Princess of Friendship, and she’s about to meet potential allies. With that in mind, she quickly regains her composure.  “C-coming!” The lavender mare leaps over the railing and spreads her wings aloft, even garnering surprise amongst several bystanders during her approach to the small island granny stood upon. ………. “Is that a flying Equus?” “Fuck me; it’s got a horn, too.” ”Wait, so Gideon ISN’T crazy?!” “Where in the Dead Isle did Granny even get that?” “It’s too small to ride. It must be a shoulder pet.” “It’s a flying Equus… and you’re more focused on its size?” ………. Twilight tried her best to ignore the observant masses from the platforms etched onto the redwoods all around her with a sheepish expression. She then lands on the island and stands before Granny Pithecus, Micropscus sitting comfortably on her shoulder.  However, the two deer-like entities with enormous antlers that accompanied the former duo instantly garnered the lavender mare’s attention, and she certainly had theirs. “Woah wee,” The white deer starts, male. “You’re a whole new kind of Equus, eh?” “No kidd’n, eh?” The male black deer agreed. “Although she’s overdoing it with all that… purple. It’s too bright.” “Yeah, yeah, how are you going to run away from predators, eh?” The white deer inquired. “This might come as a shock to you two,” Micropscus starts with a deadpan expression, “but, uh, SHE! CAN! FLY! Hello! Wings?!” The Micro finishes as he points a wing toward Twilight’s own. “I just realized…” Granny groans with a hand covering her face. “I’m surrounded by idiots…” “Oh, that makes sense, eh?” Said the white deer, considering the raptor’s words. “Yeah, yeah.” The black deer nodded. “Wish we could fly like that, eh?”  The alicorn is stunned. Indeed, she was NOT prepared for today…  “H-hello, there,” Twilight chanced a greet with a waving forelimb. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.” The deer look at each other, then at Twilight, and back to each other again before bursting out into full-on laughter. “T-T-Twilight Sp-hahahaha!” The white deer barely managed. “Aha, that’s a funny one, eh?!” The black deer leaned against his white companion for support. All while Twilight looked on with an unamused expression.  “I-is, haha, is th-that how you escape from predators?” Said the black one. “Shooting sparkles from your butt?!” “Kind of like those Flare things, eh?!” Said the white one.  They both paused at that in thought, the very image of such a scenario forming in their heads. And the conjoined laughter continues, more powerful than before.  Granny finally lowers her hand, Micropscus sighing while shaking his head. “Don’t mind those two,” The ape starts. “Pretty sure they got dropped at birth. But at least they seem to take a lik’n to ya.” Twilight blankly turns her gaze to Granny while the deer still laugh together in the background. “Lucky me…” She dropped sarcastically. “The dumb white one is Rut,” Micropscus comments. “And the equally stupid black one is Tok.” "And'fore you ask, no," Granny states. "They're not mine, just a random pair who like to stop by now and then." “Oh, dear me,” A new and feminine voice injects itself. “I adore the fabulous color of your coat, darling.” Twilight’s ears instantly perked up at that, and a sense of familiarity overcame her. She shoots her gaze back to the source, only to be greeted by three other beings. Actually, she could’ve sworn she saw them up from the Tree Platform. It was the sheep to the far right who Twilight instantly fixates upon. Of course, she doesn’t mean to ignore the Parasaur and… wait, is that a Phiomia? Once again, she scolds herself inertly. She lacked that one’s dossier, but she became all too familiar with Phiomias as their droppings seem to serve as a slur, among other things. Especially when Granny would use the term: ‘You piece of Phiomia shit.’ Regardless, the sheep spoke in a way all too familiar to the lavender mare, and that very same individual began to adjust their look, presenting themselves before speaking once more.  Just like Rarity. “My sincerest apologies, dearie. My name is Ovis Archadia, and who might you be?”