Junior slowly awoke to the smell of something delicious. His amber eyes saw something being cooked on a rusty pan by Applejack while the rest of the girls were sitting on some logs enjoying their breakfast.
"Morning, Junior." Applejack greeting the young Edmontosaurus. "Ya hungry?"
Junior nodded and Applejack handed him a toasted flower sandwich which he happily ate. After the talk he had with Fluttershy last night, Junior felt more determined than ever to see his mom again, which didn't go unnoticed my the ponies, specifically a pink party pony.
"What's got you so excited, little buddy?" Pinkie asked.
"I'm just really excited to finally find my mom." Junior said. "I just know that beyond this forest, my mom will be there."
"I hope so because I simply cannot stand walking through this forest for who knows how long!" Rarity exclaimed. "I mean just look at my precious hooves." Rarity raised up her hooves, which were all muddy and tattered. Everypony simply smiled and rolled their eyes at their fashionista friend.
"I really need a spa treatment when we get back home."
After finishing up their breakfast and putting out the fire, the group once again trekked through the forest. Unlike last night, the ponies and their dinosaur companion didn't encounter any dinosaurs except for some small dinosaurs like a Sinosauropteryx and a pair of Homalocephale foraging for food.
Eventually though, the Mane 6 reached a clearing a with several nests and broken eggshells laid around.
"This is it! This was my herd's nesting site!" Junior exclaimed.
"Aww, look at the little eggy-weggies!" Pinkie said, making puppy eyes at the melon-sized, broken eggs. Twilight looked around, noticing that there no other Edmontosauruses around.
"Hey, Junior. How come there aren't any Edmontosauruses around here." Twilight asked.
"That is kind of weird. I thought my herd would still be here looking for me" Junior said, somberly.
"I'm sure they are, sugarcube. Maybe we're just not looking hard enough." Applejack said, comforting Junior. "Everypony spread out! Let's see if we find Junior's herd!"
The rest of the mares nodded in agreement and went searching for the rest of the Junior's herd. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Junior searched on the eastside while Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie searched the westside.
As the group continued to search, Junior's belief in his mom and his herd staying to search for him was starting to seem slim. Perhaps his fight with his mother just drove her away. Maybe he truly ruined their relationship. Or worse, maybe she was...dead.
All because of him.
Junior sat down on the ground and started to remember the fight he had with his mother.
A few days earlier...
Junior was running through the bushes, his mother chasing after him.
"Junior, please calm down." His mother, Tulip yelled.
"No! Get away from me!" Junior angrily shouted. Eventually though, Tulip caught up with him.
To the average pony, this sounded like two dinosaurs angrily bellowing at each other.
"Junior, sweetie, please. Just settle down. We can talk this ou-" Tulip said, trying hold Junior's arm, only to be swatted away.
"Shut up, Mom! Why are you always like this?!" Junior shouted. "Why do have so many rules?!"
"I just want to keep you safe." Tulip said.
"Well, I can take care of myself, I don't need you!" Junior shouted.
Those words pierced Tulip's heart, her eyes beginning to well up. Junior, meanwhile, shook his head angrily.
"I-I need some space right now. Okay?" Junior said, starting to head in another direction.
"Junior, wait!" Tulip tried to say. Suddenly, the ground began to violently shake. Junior and Tulip struggled to keep their balance.
"W-What's going on?!" Junior yelled.
"EARTHQUAKE!!" Tulip shouted. The two Edmontosauruses immediately started to run. Behind them, dozens of other species of dinosaurs were running every which way.
Tulip looked back to check on Junior to make sure he was still following her. As looked back, she saw something at the top of the eye.
Was it just her or was the cave ceiling getting closer to them?
She was right! Large chunks of rock were falling down, straight towards them! Tulip opened her mouth to warn Junior but it was too late.
A giant rock fell down, sending the two Edmontosauruses flying.
When Junior landed, he was knocked unconscious. It would be a few hours before he would finally wake up again and even more before he could see his mother again.
A single tear rolled down his cheek as he revisited the memory. He deep in his thoughts when someone tapped him in the shoulder. More accurately, "somepony."
"Are you alright, Junior?" Fluttershy asked.
"Not really. Just thinking about my mom." Junior said.
"It'll be alright." Fluttershy said, trying to comfort the dinosaur to no avail.
"I don't think it will be though." Junior somberly. Fluttershy hugged Junior tightly as Junior proceeded to weep.
While Fluttershy was comforting Junior, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were searching around the nesting site.
"Found anything yet, Pinkie?" Rainbow hollered.
"Nope. Nothing yet!" Pinkie replied. As Pinkie continued hop across the ground, she suddenly tripped on something and yelped in surprise.
Rainbow quickly flew to her pink friend's aid who was lying face-down.
"Pinkie, you alright?" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Whoa, that was a doozy!" Pinkie said, her blue pupils spinning in a circle. As Rainbow helped her up, Pinkie noticed a bunch of amber-colored eggs, forming a sort of spiral.
"Hey, Dashie! Look at these eggs!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Whoa, those don't like Edmontosaurus eggs." Rainbow said, taking noticed of the egg's slimmer structure and different color.
"Yeah, that looks kind of weird." Pinkie said, bouncing up and down repeatedly at a high speed.
"Whoa! Pinkie was that your Pinkie Sense?" Rainbow asked.
"Yup, and it sounds like it's gonna be real big doozy!" Pinkie exclaimed, jittering.
"Considering where we are right now, I really am not looking forward to whatever this doozy is gonna be." Rainbow said, looking around nervously.
But as she looked around, she realized there were more than just one nest of these eggs.
Whatever was laying these eggs had clearly made this its territory. Suddenly, a large growl came from the shrubbery. Rainbow's and Pinkie's eyes darted to the forest.
From the treeline, popped a tall, sleek dinosaur with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. One of its toes was raised, revealing a sharpened claw ready to tear the ponies to shreds. The animal that stood before them was none other than a Utahraptor.
But this Utahraptor wasn't alone. From the bushes, three more popped out. One of them had yellow and black stripes running across it's body, the second one had tiger stripes across its body and emerald eyes with slit pupils like a cat, and the third was completely grey except for a blue streak that ran from its head to its tail.
"Well, there's your doozy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.