Vora's POV
Vora was so happy to be running through tall grass again. It had be far too long since she was able to even walk, let alone run. She always loved running at top speed. The wind rushing over her face in feathers felt great. The best part was that she was away from the mammals that had imprisoned her in that wretched pit. If she ever saw them again, she'd do anything she could to get away, even if that meant killing them.
She was so distracted with her sense of freedom that it took her a while to realize that she was hungry. Very hungry. She needed food and fast. What she wouldn't give for a hadrosaur or a young sauropod right now. If there were large animals here, that would be great, except for the fact that she needed her pack.
Speaking of which, a familiar-sounding barking call sounded in the distance. It was definitely a Utahraptor call, and one she recognized.
"Velt!" she said quietly.
Vora let out a returning bark. Velt gave out another bark to Vora's left. She took off in that direction until she came across an obvious game trail in the forest. As she approached the forest, a shape came running towards her. The shape came into the sunlight and took the form of her mate Velt. His black crest stood up in excitement at seeing Vora.
"Vora!" he shouted to her.
"Velt!" Vora shouted back.
The pair ran to each other and nuzzled their heads. Velt took a step back and looked Vora over.
"You look good! Where have you been?!" he asked.
"I was being held captive by some weird mammals! They hurt me and put me in some weird pit for days!" Vora replied. "I just escaped from them! What about you?"
"I woke up in a forest of some kind. I was with the others and I told them to search the forest for you," Velt replied. "It took some time, but here I am finding you."
Vora nuzzled Velt's neck with her snout. She could feel her mate trembling at her touch.
"I'm glad you found me. I was afraid I'd never see you again," Vora said.
"Me too. I love you, Vora," Velt said.
"I love you, too, Velt," Vora said. "How about we go look for the others?"
"Yeah, let's go! They'll be so happy to see you again!" Velt said. "I established a meeting spot for the pack in the woods."
The two Utahraptors took off into the forest as quickly as they could to Velt's meeting spot. Vora was so happy to be reunited with her mate, and she'll be more happy to have her mate and her pack back again.
*****
The Main 6
Fluttershy was tending to Rainbow Dash's injuries while Twilight was pacing. This animal was now free like Treehugger wanted, but she still wanted to learn more about this animal. It was a creature no one else in the land had ever seen before, so she wanted to study her more. Good thing she had an ace. Fluttershy completely wrapped up Rainbow's leg and wing when she turned to Twilight.
"What now, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"I really wanted to learn more about that creature, so just in case she got out, I put a tracking spell on her," Twilight said.
"You want to actually look for her?!" Rainbow asked incredulously. "Look what she did to me!"
"I'm not planning on going after her unarmed," Twilight said. "I have defensive spells in case she tries to attack me."
"Why do you even want to go after her?" Rarity asked. "She's a beautiful but dangerous predator we're talking about."
"This is an unknown predatory species we're dealing with. It would be good if we learned as much as we could so we can prevent potential incidents," Twilight said. "In fact, I have an idea."
Twilight pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it. Once she was done, she gave it to Spike.
"Spike, send this to the Princesses. Maybe they'll know something about her," Twilight ordered.
"Sure thing," Spike said.
Spike sent the letter to the Princesses as ordered. Next, Twilight pulled out her special journal to Sunset Shimmer in the human world. She eagerly wrote down something in the journal before putting it back in her saddlebag. All she had to do know was wait for their reply.
"In case thee Princesses don't know anything, maybe Sunset Shimmer will," Twilight said.
"You think we should go looking for your mystery predator now?" Applejack asked. "I got my lasso to back you up."
"I'd like to look for her immediately. I promise we'll exercise caution when we do find her," Twilight said.
"With all due respect, Twilight, I think I'm just going to head home," Rainbow said. "I'm not looking forward to dealing with teeth and claws again."
"Fine, Rainbow," Twilight said. "The rest of us will head out."
Twilight cast a teleportation spell on Rainbow Dash with the intention of sending her home.
Before the group could leave, however, Spike belched out a flame that formed into a letter. The Princesses had already sent a reply? That was good to see. Twilight read the letter.
-
Dear Twilight, my most faithful student,
I have looked over the description of the creature that you sent me and neither me nor Luna had ever come across a creature that matches your description. Perhaps this creature comes from a land beyond Equestria. Or perhaps it comes from a different world entirely. Our astronomers have been reporting bizarre astronomical activity for the past couple of days. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that this creature is an arrival from another world. If this is the case, I think it would be best for you to monitor this animal as well as take care of it.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia
-
"That's interesting," Twilight said before turning to the others. "Princess Celestia seems to think that this creature that this animal originates from another world."
The girls were all plenty shocked to hear something like that. If that's true, then they need to find this creature so they can try to send it home.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go find the animal!" Fluttershy said.
As the girls left to go look for the loose animal, Twilight's journal began to vibrate. Twilight pulled it out and read it as she walked along with the others.
-
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
The animal you described sounds a lot like a dinosaur. Dinosaurs were animals that used to exist in the human world but are now extinct. If there's a dinosaur in Equestria, then you're very lucky. This means you're very lucky to be harboring what may be an endangered species.
Sincerely, Sunset Shimmer
-
"Nice to know what we're dealing with, now," Twilight said aloud.
"What did Sunset say, darling?" Rarity asked.
"The animal we're looking for is called a 'dinosaur'," Twilight said. "Sunset says it's an animal from the human world that's supposed to be extinct."
The mere mention of the word "extinct" really got Fluttershy's attention. She grabbed Twilight's shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes.
"They're supposed to be extinct?!" Fluttershy yelled. "Then we need to find her right away!"
Well, it was nice to see Fluttershy so motivated. The others followed Twilight as she used her tracking spell to locate the lost animal.
*****
Vora's POV
Vora followed Velt to the meeting spot. The spot itself was a treeless hill that rose above the entire forest, giving them a good vantage point to scan their surroundings. Velt let out a gathering call to gather the pack together. Vora and Velt waited for a return call, but there was nothing.
The only response they got was dead silence. All they heard was the wind and the sounds of animals in the forest, but not the familiar sounds of Utahraptors. Velt's expression hardened with worry.
"Something's not right," Velt said.
"I agree. Something's happened to them," Vora said. "Let's find out."
"Yeah, but let's stay together," Velt said. "It may be too dangerous to go about this alone."
"Okay, let's go!" Vora said.
The Utahraptor pair took off down the hill and began to look around the forest for their missing pack. Both of them were keeping their eyes and nostrils open for any sign of their packmates. They were heading east along the river when Vora spotted something in the muddy riverbank.
"Velt! Look!" Vora said.
"What did you find?" Velt asked.
"I found footprints! These look like Mara's footprints!" Vora said.
From the looks of it, the rest of the pack was with her. There were other footprints, too. These weren't made by any dinosaur or animal Velt recognized. However, something about them seemed familiar to Vora. After looking at them for a while, she realized just what those footprints belonged to.
The ground around them showed signs of a struggle, with claw marks and drag marks all around them. Vora tried her best to piece together the scenario in her mind, a strategy that worked well when hunting prey.
From what she was able to gather, the pack gathered along the river to drink. They were found by the mammals that held Vora prisoner and attacked them. The pack put up a fight and tried to run, but the mammals overpowered them. Next, the mammals dragged them towards the river. Fearing the worst, Vora sniffed the air around them.
She caught her pack's scent! They were still alive! They were traveling along with the mammals down the river somehow going with the current. Vora pointed her head towards the direction of the river's current.
"Our pack was taken!" Vora said. "They're still alive, but they're heading down the river. If we're going to find them, we'd better start following the river."
"Right, Vora. What are we going to do once we find their captors, though?" Velt asked.
Vora ruffled her feathers and curled back her lips in a fanged snarl.
"We teach them exactly what happens when they cross a Utahraptor!" she hissed. Velt smiled.
"I like you when you're threatening," Velt said.
"We can flirt after we find our pack. Let's move out!" Vora said with a smirk.
Vora and Velt shot off down the river in search of their pack. When they found them, they were going to make their captors pay for what they've done. Vora was officially sick of mammals, now.