//------------------------------//
// 4. A Mammoth Undertaking {Part 2} 
// Story: Equestria Girls: Prehistoric Park 
// by zooloverryan 
//------------------------------//

Siberia, 150,000 years ago...

Compared to their last trip, it's even colder and, because it's dry, lots of different kinds of grass grow here. Nigel and Fluttershy should have no problem finding out what mammoths like to eat.

Fluttershy was ecstatic. "This is the Mammoth Steppe, the dominant terrestrial biome of the Northern Hemisphere during the late Pleistocene, spanning east to west from Spain to Canada."

The world that the pair had arrived in was a far cry from the taiga forests of 10,000 years ago; a dry plain nestled within the mountains and glaciers, stretching as far as the eye can see, not a tree to be seen. And the most crucial difference between the two different time periods was the fact that the steppes were alive with herds of woolly mammoths which gave these parts their name. From their vantage point over a snowy slope, they could see the silhouettes of at least twenty animals traveling in the same direction, and their calls and trumpets carried across the valley.

"It's a really different feeling to the last trip," said Nigel. "No trees, perfect climate, perfect vegetation for mammoths. And they're flourishing."

"They're all females." Fluttershy observed through her binoculars. "They have much smaller tusks than the males."

The Englishman nodded as they continued to observe the migrating herd. "They're following the lead of one animal, and she's the matriarch. She could be 50 or 60 years of age. She maintains cohesiveness in the herd. They stop when she stops, they sleep when she sleeps, and they feed and drink when she does."

The pink-haired girl directed her lenses to where the mammoths were going. "There's a big patch of green down there. That might be an area of vegetation. And it looks like they're headed there to start feeding."

"Then that's where we should go to get those plant samples." Nigel concluded.

The pair set off on their snowmobiles, gliding across the ice and snow of the Mammoth Steppe as they approached the mammoth herd which looked for all the world like walking haystacks. They came to a slow and steady halt just several yards away from the herd. The mammoths continued ambling along their traditional migratory route, paying the humans little heed, with the exception of the matriarch who kept a wary eye on them. Fortunately, the duo knew better than to get too close.

Before too long however, the matriarch's concerns would soon lay elsewhere as a great trumpeting commotion began to excite the herd.

“What's going on?" asked a confused Fluttershy.

"There's a commotion in the herd. The matriarch is leading them away. I don't know why. I can't see a... predator." The Englishman's binoculars eventually fell upon the source of the disturbance. He then pointed along the outskirts of the herd; there, disturbing the peace, was a hulking figure with an impressive set of ivory tusks, each one nearly sixteen feet long.

There were also some differences between it and the other mammoths. It had a short head compared with the mammoths as well as a smaller jaw. It had grey skin and less fur than the mammoths. 

"There. It's a big bull mammoth, a male mammoth, and he's in musth, which means he's ready to mate."

Fluttershy frowned. "When they're in this state, they've got four times the amount of testosterone they normally have. They're looking for a female to mate with, and they can be really bad tempered and aggressive. Any little thing can set them off."

The steppes were filled with the blaring trumpets of the hormonally aroused bull mammoth. "He's driving the herd away," said Fluttershy as the mammoth cows moved away from the cantankerous bull.

"He's investigating all the females, seeing if there's one that's ready to mate." added Nigel.

"But it doesn't look like any of them are interested." Fluttershy remarked. The bull seemed to take the hint and began to lumber off elsewhere while the two continued to follow the main herd to their pasturing grounds, away from the irate colossus.

“You know, what’s really surprising is that neither of us were expecting that bull to be here, he’s not even a woolly mammoth at all.” Fluttershy told the cameraman. “He's actually an ancestor of them called a steppe mammoth. Some fossils in Germany shows us that this animal could reach nearly 15 feet high at the shoulder, making it one of the largest land mammals on Earth.”

The mammoths and the duo eventually arrived on a grassy meadow where the hairy behemoths began to disperse and graze to their heart's content. While they started their task, the two time travelers took the time to take in the scenery. Needless to say, they were mesmerized by the spectacle which was one day destined to disappear forever with the glaciers.

"Wow!"

"It's such an enchanting sight." Nigel observed. "It's like an extended family– mothers and calves, there's aunties, there's sisters,"

And they all seem to be thriving on their grassland diet.

"Now that's a grass eater alright." Fluttershy noted as she observed a grown cow grazing. "Using her trunk like a hand to pull up huge mouthfuls of the stuff."

"And look at how rich it is! It's so diverse; grasses and flowers and mosses, all sorts of things." With a handsaw, Nigel began to cut away sizable samples of these prehistoric plants. "And they need a lot of vegetation. Sometimes they have to have 200 kilograms,"

"440 pounds." Fluttershy chimed in. "That's as much as two Nigels put together." she snarked.

"Hey!" Nigel cried out, feigning offense while Fluttershy chuckled at his expense.

"I'll have you know I'm a vegetarian!" the Englishman remarked in mock severity. Back to the camera crew, he said, "Anyway. Mammoths forage on things like this over here, they may get vitamins and things from twigs like that. The plan is to get a big enough sample to take it back for an analysis at Prehistoric Park and get Martha and Mary feeding again."

"Besides, Twilight also requested that we bring back plant samples from each time period we visit, so we can actually grow them back in the park. We've even asked Bob to build us a greenhouse just for the purpose."

They may have come here to find out about their food, but they're learning a lot more than that. Just like elephants, mammoths seem to have a strong bond between members of the herd.

As she was collecting a clump of yellow arctic buttercups, a high-pitched trumpeting sound caused Fluttershy to look up from her task. She gasped at what she saw.

"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" asked Nigel.

"There's a calf stuck in a muddy pond!" cried the animal lover. It didn't take long for Nigel to take notice. Over a hundred yards away from them, a baby mammoth had wandered far from the watchful eyes of his mother and had slipped into a barely frozen pond.

Nigel frowned. "He's on his own and he's really struggling."

"The rest of the herd have taken notice. The mammoths are going over." True to Fluttershy’s word, the adult mammoths lumbered towards the edge of the pond, alerted by the calf's cries for help.

"The matriarch's coming too." Nigel observed, while the head of the herd arrived on the scene. With each feeble attempt to break free, the calf only grew more exhausted as he sank deeper into the mire. "He's really in trouble there, a tiny calf. Can't be more than a month or so old."

Fortunately for the baby, his grandmother was near enough to reach him. After reassuring him with gentle caresses from her trunk, the matriarch used her ten-foot tusks to delicately hook the calf within her grasp. Once her hold was secure, she slowly moved backwards, reeling her grandson safely back on terra firma.

"She did it!" cheered Fluttershy.

Nigel smiled, turning to the film crew. "And that's what the matriarch does. Whenever there's trouble, she goes in to help." The mammoth calf was muddy and drenched, but none the worse for wear, thanks to the actions of his wise and devoted grandmother. With that crisis averted, the herd resumed the usual business of eating while the duo went back to the task of collecting much needed Pleistocene plants.

Mammoths aren't the only creatures digging into the rich grassland.

From her place on a rise, Fluttershy surveyed the vast expanse of the steppes. "This place may be called the Mammoth Steppe, but it also supports a wide array of so many other herbivores! There's wild horses, steppe bison, muskoxen, reindeer, and those look like Megaloceros. Sometimes called the Irish elk. It's like the African Serengeti—“ The animal lover and the Englishman immediately did a double take as a loud snort was heard behind them. 

Dangerously close to the snowmobiles was what looked to be a gigantic rhinoceros, easily twice the size of any African or Asian juggernaut in much later centuries, covered in a shaggy pelt of reddish-brown hair. But the most striking feature was the massive horn growing from its forehead. The rhino didn't seem to notice the humans as he lumbered along, grazing as it did so. And it was getting closer!

Fluttershy gulped. "Isn't that a–"

Nigel nodded. "I've seen these in the textbooks. It's an Elasmotherium, a prehistoric rhinoceros twice the size of modern rhinos. Weighs up to 5 tons."

The Elasmotherium will soon be extinct, dying out as the climate gets warmer, its habitat disappears, and humans hunt them to the brink. 

"We're downwind of him." said Fluttershy with a strained whisper. "If Elasmotherium are like modern rhinos, they have very poor eyesight."

Nigel nodded. "That's right. He's got to get very close to see us. But if he does, he could charge."

"And that horn looks really formidable, it's as long as you're tall." Fluttershy said to the English naturalist. "About 6 feet."

Nigel shuddered as he added, "And he'd have no hesitation about charging and impaling us with that. That would really spoil our weekend."

Fluttershy chuckled nervously. Neither of them had any plans on becoming human-kabobs. Silently, the two began to back away, far away from the giant herbivore.

But then you wouldn’t want to be trampled by an angry steppe mammoth either. 

Directly behind them was the hulking form of the male steppe mammoth sighted earlier. The bull gave a threatening roar to the two interlopers standing in his way. While it probably never seen humans before, he had become so aggressive that everything that moved was something to unleash his anger on.

"Flippin' heck." Nigel muttered.

Aware of the mammoth's presence, the Elasmotherium wisely gave the volatile giant a wide berth as he lumbered off to seek good grazing elsewhere. The mammoth showed no such hesitation; as far as he was concerned, he was the most powerful creature in these lands, and these puny underlings would do well to remember that. He continued to advance towards them, becoming less friendly by the minute.

"Shall we run for our lives?" Fluttershy casually inquired.

"Oh, yes, let's." Nigel replied.

The instant the duo took flight, the bull steppe mammoth was at their heels, roaring and trumpeting his ire. With the raging colossus quickly catching up to them, Nigel had to throw his hard-earned grass samples to lighten his escape.

"Yeet!" shouted Fluttershy, throwing her bag to the side as she followed her companion, both running for their lives. The two had managed to reach their snowmobiles just as the mammoth came thundering towards them! Fluttershy fled the moment her transport roared to life, but Nigel was having a more difficult time jump-starting his own. And the enraged behemoth was quickly closing in. Once, twice, the Englishman fiddled with the ignition until– the snowmobile roared to life! Nigel wasted no time in flooring it, ducking down to avoid a sideways swipe of the bull steppe mammoth's tusks, leaving the hulking beast to bellow his rage and frustration as the duo sped away.

Although safe from the wrath of the bull steppe mammoth, the duo need to retrieve the plant bags, but now Nigel's got his eye on something much bigger to take back to the park. 

Fluttershy exchanged a questioning glance as Nigel set his sights on the Elasmotherium foraging around the plant bags, as though he was guarding them. Not far away from the heavily armed behemoth, a herd of eight Irish elk also grazed. Standing up to seven feet tall at the shoulders, the bucks sported impressive sets of antlers, each as long as a person. Next to them was a herd of four Aurochs. But unbeknownst to the herbivores, a young cave lioness was slowly stalking the herds.

This is their chance to save the Elasmotherium from extinction, but it means taking a huge risk and using themselves as bait.

The giant rhinoceros began to move away from the plant bags. It was now time for action. After Fluttershy finished setting up the time portal, she and Nigel went to retrieve the plant samples, deliberately making as much noise as possible to draw the rhino's attention.

Alerted by the intrusion, the Elasmotherium turned to face the scrawny humans, his horn lowered in threat. After recovering their samples, the animal lover hurled a snowball at the irate herbivore. Fluttershy’s aim was true as the snowball struck the rhino in the snout. The horned behemoth rumbled and snorted his ire, clouds of smoke billowing from his nostrils as he pawed the frozen earth with his front feet, preparing for his charge.

The yellow one was going to die first.

Despite the Ice Age unicorn bearing down upon them, Fluttershy and Nigel remained motionless.

The horned colossus thundered closer and closer...

Judging the time was right, the pair opted for tactical retreat, with the rhino not far behind. The sight of the oncoming Elasmotherium was enough to spook the Megaloceros and Aurochs herd into a stampede, with the males leading the does and cows away from the imminent threat, galloping blindly through the transparent veil of time that suddenly materialized in their path. The cave lioness, the duo and the raging, shortsighted Elasmotherium followed soon after.

Prehistoric Park, 21st century...*

It was complete pandemonium as the duo ran through the stockade with five tons of angry rhinoceros at their heels!

"Get these veg samples!" shouted Nigel as he tossed his bags over the stockade.

"Yeet!" yelled Fluttershy as she threw her. And not a moment too soon as the Elasmotherium thundered directly behind them, bellowing and roaring his fury! Before them, the herd of Irish elk and Aurochs and the cave lioness bellowed, roared and pranced in alarm as they struggled to escape within the sudden confines of the wooden palisades, large antlers and horns locking and buckling with every push and shove. Fortunately for the panicked deer, cattle and feline, the Elasmotherium's focus was solely on the two humans that had beguiled him, his six-foot spear lowered with murderous intent.

Nigel was quick to climb up the ladder which led to the catwalk situated on top of the stockade. Fluttershy soon followed. Her eyes widened as she saw the rhino's horn had missed her by mere inches!

"Ohh! Close the gate!" she shouted, and two frantic keepers quickly slid the wooden gate shut, halting the rhino's charge. The cornered beast snorted in protest, slamming his horn against the barrier which threatened to burst with each mighty blow.

"Fluttershy! See if you can round up the herds and that cave lioness!”

Fluttershy nodded. "You got it, Nigel!" They ran along two separate ends of the catwalk.

The instant a clear corridor opened up for the spooked herd of Megaloceros and Aurochs, they immediately took it, running in single file towards a spacious quarantine enclosure while the cave lioness charged towards another enclosure away from the grazers.

"On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen, on Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, on Blitzen! ¡Andale, Josè! ¡Andale, Sofia! ¡Andale, Isabella! ¡Andale, Elena!" shouted Fluttershy from her platform, naming each elk and cattle as they passed through into the holding pen. There were four males and four females within the Megaloceros herd, and one bull and three cows within the Aurochs herd. "All the Irish elk and Aurochs are accounted for! The same goes for the cave lioness!"

With Nigel, he had opened up a passage that would lead the Ice Age behemoth into an unoccupied enclosure of his own.

"Okay, let him through!" ordered Nigel.

The moment the gate was reopened, the rhinoceros wasted no time in charging through the open corridor, ultimately being funneled into the holding pen.

As soon as Fluttershy rejoined him, the duo exchanged congratulations and high fives. "We've got it!" Below them, the Elasmotherium bellowed as he glanced up at the celebrating primates now far out of his reach. He'd been had again.

A large male Elasmotherium, a cave lioness and a herd of Megaloceros and Aurochs are now the latest additions to Prehistoric Park.

Alerted by the surge in activity, Bob hobbled over to meet the pair. "All right, chaps? What's going on?" He then looked down into the enclosure holding the rhino. "I don't believe it! Only you two could go away to collect a few grasses and come back with something like that!"

"Say hello to Vlad the Elasmotherium!" said Fluttershy with an infectious smile.

Bob raised an eyebrow. "Vlad? After Vlad the Impaler?"

Fluttershy chuckled as she gave a sheepish grin. "It seemed appropriate."

"He's magnificent, isn't he?" panted Nigel, partly from all the excitement, and partly from the sudden African heat after a day in the Ice Age.

Bob radioed the others. "Suzanne? You'd better get over here. Nigel and Fluttershy got a little surprise for us. Look at that!"

Suddenly, a blaring trumpet was heard as Nigel and Fluttershy turned their heads to see a familiar hulking figure exit the portal.

“We’re gonna need a bigger trailer.” muttered Nigel.

The new arrivals are quickly placed in their new homes.

The arrival of the Aurochs herd and the cave lioness seems to be beneficial for the young male and the bull Aurochs, who Fluttershy now named Valiente.

They both became a lot happier, and seem to be getting along, besides a few fights between Valiente and Josè.

But for now, Nigel and Fluttershy are headed straight over to see whether they can tempt Martha and her sister with their lce Age grass samples.

Nigel held out a handful of Pleistocene grass for Martha and Mary. "Come on, girls. Come on. This is some prehistoric salad." But the two mammoths didn't acknowledge the food, or even move.

"You must be feeling hungry." said Fluttershy. "How about some buttercups?" No response. "Come on. This is salad from the lce Age. You gotta at least try it." 

The mammoths only gave pitiful moans before promptly turning away.

Twilight came to greet them. "Hey guys. How’re they doing?"

"They just won't be enticed." the English naturalist replied regretfully. "They just won't feed at all." Twilight’s heart sank at the news.

Suddenly the roar of an engine rumbled over the hill, and the threesome and the mammoths looked over to see AJ's jeep slowly driving in, followed by the herd of eight Megaloceros. Disembarking from the all-terrain vehicle was Applejack, Sunset and Pinkie, the latter rattling a bucket full of pellets and feed which she scattered about in the grass for the herd of hungry deer.

"Hey guys. Sorry we're late," Pinkie announced. "Bob needed the trailer to move Vlad, erm, whatever you called him to his new home. Plus there wasn't enough room in there for those ginormous antlers."

"Good news. Martha and Mary got some new neighbors." said Sunset, gesturing to the giant deer who were content to be grazing along the boundaries of the mammoth sisters’ pen. "Turns out that the Megaloceros, or Irish elk, used to inhabit much of the same landscape as the woolly mammoth, from Ireland to the east in Siberia. What'd we miss?"

"That's great, Sunset. But–" Twilight gestured sadly towards Martha and Mary who barely spared their new neighbors a glance. "They’re still not eating." The bacon-haired girl’s smile disappeared.

"Oh no."

"If it's not the food, what else could be the problem?" asked Applejack mildly exasperated.

The duo exchanged sad glances as they took a good look at the forlorn creatures standing in the empty enclosure. One thing was sadly clear; they were more alone now than they ever were back in the Ice Age. How could they not have seen it before?

Nigel sighed. It was time to acknowledge the hairy elephant in the room. "It's anthropomorphic to say it, but they look lonely."

Twilight nodded. "Of course, they're intelligent and emotional creatures."

"They have feelings," said Fluttershy in a faraway tone. "The mammoths we saw, the females at least, were always in big groups. There were aunts, grandmas, moms, calves, sisters.”

"We would have brought another one back, but of course, their mother was killed by the hunters." the Englishman said with a great deal of remorse.

"Oh." said Sunset, feeling even more sorry for the lonesome pachyderms. "That's terrible. It's no wonder they’re so blue."

"Really? They look more like a reddish brown to me," Pinkie remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"No Pinkie. I meant that they’re depressed."

"Oh."

"Not to mention that male steppe mammoth we encountered was way too unpredictable." Fluttershy added in a matter-of-factly tone.

"It makes so much sense." said Twilight. "Mammoths and elephants are closely related. They even share 99.9% of the same DNA."

Nigel nodded. "In elephant societies, only bulls are on their own. Cows are always with calves and other elephants."

"So maybe they just need some companionship." Applejack concluded.

Sunset tapped her chin in thought. "But how?"

Could that be the answer: The reason that Martha and Mary aren't eating is the fact that they’re all alone?

Suddenly everyone's attention was drawn by a tiny trumpeting at the edge of the paddock. Even lonesome Martha and Marty raised their huge, tusked heads in interest; it had been so long since they had heard that call, the call of a calf. Twilight felt something nudge her from behind. She turned around, and smiled as soon as she saw who it was. "Oh hi, sweetie!"

"Jomo? What are you doing here?" Fluttershy questioned. The baby elephant had wandered away from his herd to greet his human friends and playmates.

"You gotta get back to your herd." said Applejack, affectionately scratching Jomo’s rough skin.

"Your mum's gonna be worried sick." cooed Nigel, crouching down to be at eye level with the calf. Jomo relished in the attention he was getting from his caretakers. Just then, two huge shadows fell over the tiny calf, causing him and everyone else to look up. Martha and Mary, both who had been silent and withdrawn all day, had lumbered over to see this small and hairless visitor standing just outside the paddock.

With the team, no one moved, not a word was said as they all silently watched this interaction.

Martha and Mary rumbled low guttural salutations to the curious calf. Jomo enthusiastically chirped a greeting at these strange hairy elephants who seemed to be very friendly. What were they doing all by their lonesome self and were they perhaps elephants from a chiller climate? Martha and Mary slowly reached their trunk beyond the fence, stopping just mere inches from the calf. Jomo fearlessly reached out to touch the extended trunks.

The spectating humans were moved by the touching scene, Twilight and Sunset especially as they had to muffle a giggle.

Just then, a loud trumpet sounded over the ridge, the sound of Jomo’s mother, Asali, calling for him. Upon hearing the voice of his mother, the elephant calf reluctantly ran back to rejoin the herd, but not before trumpeting a farewell to his new friends.

The moment the baby elephant disappeared out of sight, the mammoths’ depression seemed to return to their tenfold, moaning mournfully as they remembered everything they had lost; herd members, family and loved ones who had succumbed to starvation, pestilence, or the human spear, and lastly their mother, all they had left in the harsh and unforgiving world they left behind; the last one who had loved them and comforted them through their ever changing world before she was so cruelly taken away from them. The team could only look on sadly as Martha and Mary slowly lumbered to the opposite side of the enclosure, the last of their kind anywhere in the world.

Some creatures are well suited to being on their own, like the Elasmotherium, the cave lion couple and the cave bear, who are all settling in well to their new home. And the bull steppe mammoth seems to be fine on his own. But just as female elephants need to be close to their families, so do mammoths. Martha and Mary, both barely able to stand up, are dying of loneliness. 

Later that evening, Nigel and Fluttershy call a meeting to propose a rather bizarre idea.

As the sun was setting over Prehistoric Park, Nigel, Bob, Suzanne, and the Equestria Girls had all gathered in Nigel's bungalow to address the hairy elephant in the room.

"Putting them alongside the steppe mammoth is out of question. He's in musth. He could kill them. But they’re literally pining to death." Nigel explained. "They're herd animals, mammoths. They’re stuck in that paddock on their own. They’ve got no companionship." The naturalist's statement was immediately challenged when a certain girl cleared her throat, her purple and spectacled eyes narrowed. "Well, except for Twilight."

"And as we know, mammoths and elephants are closely related," said Twilight.

Fluttershy continued for her friend with the bluntness of a hammer. "What do you guys think? Do you think we can put them together?"

Suzanne was in favor. "It's been done before. We've put elephants in established herds and that seems to work. So, I don't think it's a bad idea to see how we go with Martha and Mary."

Bob and Applejack weren't convinced. "Our herd's established, it's got a pecking order, and it's got a matriarch.”

“What happens if we introduce them and Martha or Mary decide to take over as dominant female?" Applejack said.

"Surely, we can just do it slowly." Nigel countered. "If there's a big problem, we can get in and split them up." 

"What else are we gonna do?" asked Sunset. "If we don't do something, they’re gonna die."

The room fell into somber silence as no one could easily answer that question. There were no other alternatives.

"What if we brought back their mom?" pondered Rainbow. Fluttershy and Nigel's heads shot up, while Bob, Suzanne and the girls looked skeptical. Why hadn't they thought of that?

Pinkie's eyes widened. "Oh no! No, no, no, no, no! Bad call!" She cried, shooting down that idea altogether.

"Why not?" asked Rainbow.

“Sci-fi rule #1: you mess with the past, you end up with monkeys ruling the future."

The three exchanged confused glances. "We kind of already do that, don't we?" asked a puzzled Fluttershy.

"And nothing bad has happened so far," said Nigel.

"And certainly no monkey overlords." added Rainbow, rolling her eyes at such a ridiculous notion.

Twilight shook her head regretfully. "Bringing back extinct animals is one thing, but revisiting the same place at the same exact moment is too risky. The time portals were never designed for that purpose."

Sunset decided to throw in her two cents. "And Pinkie’s got a point. If you try to go back to 10,000 years ago on the very same day you found Martha and Mary, it could create a paradox that could tear a hole in the space-time continuum."

"In theory, we might also run into our past selves," said Twilight.

"Time travel sure is confusing." said Fluttershy, hand on her aching head. Nigel nodded in agreement; they were zoologists, not rocket scientists.

The rainbow-haired teen heaved a remorseful sigh. "There goes that idea,"

Somber silence once more.

"So we're all agreed?" asked Applejack.

"It's a risk we gotta take to save Martha and Mary." Nigel concluded.

It's a team decision. But will it work?

The Next Morning...

It's an important day at Prehistoric Park. Nigel and his team are about to introduce two lce Age mammoths to an elephant herd to cure their loneliness. 

He was currently driving down the dirt road in his personal jeep, heading straight for Mammoth Mount.

"I'm petrified about this." the Englishman told the cameraman truthfully. "It's difficult enough putting strange elephants into an established herd, but when you're trying to do it with mammoths like Martha or Mary, but we've got to try it. It's their last chance."

Nigel just hopes he's doing the right thing. 

The rest of the team was already there, waiting expectantly, as well as the entire elephant herd. The elephants too, seemed to be waiting anxiously, as though they too sensed a change in the atmosphere. Inside her enclosure, Martha and Mary paced anxiously as they too sensed the ever growing tension, a far cry from the endless monotony of the paddock.

The plan is to introduce Martha and Mary to the head of the elephant herd, the matriarch. If they’re accepted by Asali, then they'll be accepted by the rest of the herd. While it has its risks, it could save Martha's life.

As Nigel disembarked from the vehicle to join up with the team, Fluttershy escorted the matriarch towards the threshold of the mammoth sisters' enclosure, divided by a wooden fence to separate the modern pachyderm from her shaggier prehistoric relatives should things turn south. Sensing that they had a visitor, the mammoths slowly made their way towards the edge of their enclosure where the African elephant cow stood tentatively, swinging and rocking, and shifting from one foot to another.

But elephants can be very unpredictable, especially when faced with the unfamiliar.

"It's nerve racking, isn't it?" asked Suzanne as Nigel joined her at the edge of the fence.

"They’re sensing everything, smelling everything that's going on." he observed, watching the interactions very closely and carefully. Inside the paddock, Fluttershy stood on one end with the elephant matriarch while Rainbow Dash was with the mammoth sisters on the other end. Fluttershy began the introductions. "Asali, meet Martha and Mary. They’re woolly mammoths. Close cousins of yours, several times removed."

"Martha, Mary, this is Asali, Jomo’s mom and herd matriarch." Rainbow Dash told the mammoths. Just then, somewhere among the herd, the baby elephant interjected with playful chirps. He was unfortunately prevented from joining the induction by his protective aunties who kept the calf safe between their legs. The teen chuckled. "Of course you've already met Jomo."

Back outside of the enclosure, the rest of the team continued to watch the interaction between the three great beasts who had, until now, been separated by the vast chasm of time.

"I'm pleased they’re walking up. They don't seem to be really apprehensive about the matriarch." Suzanne noted.

"So far so good," said Applejack apprehensively.

Twilight noticed a change in the mammoth sisters' demeanors. Gone were the withdrawn and isolated animals from the day before, replaced by more approachable, sociable creatures yearning for companionship. "They seem really good, really happy."

"It's a good start, though." replied the English naturalist, allowing himself to smile. "This is much better than we thought."

As the induction continued, the head of the elephant herd lifted her trunk in a salute and bellowed a good-natured trumpet at these fascinating newcomers. The woolly mammoths returned the gesture in kind. This gesture had not gone unnoticed by the head vet. "The way with their trunk they’re making overtures of friendship, at least."

"This looks like it's working. It's amazing." said the fashionista. Never in a million years did she or her friend imagine that they would witness the meeting between two iconic giants, worlds and eons apart, vastly different but uncannily similar in their shared need for amiability and fellowship.

"Matriarchs have been known to kill elephants trying to come into the herd," informed Nigel, happy that his original worries had been misplaced, "but nothing like that."

"It's great. Look at that."

Time seemed to fly by, and before anyone, man or creature, knew it, the meeting had concluded.

The Englishman looked to his comrades. "What do you think? Should we...?"

Suzanne was the first to voice her opinion. "Yeah, I think we should go for it."

"No objections." Rainbow answered.

"Absolutely." added Spike.

"This is much better than we've hoped for," said Rarity hopefully.

Inside the paddock, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gave their own verdict as they gave a thumbs up.

That was the only answer Nigel needed. "Okay, Bob. Open the gate please!"

As Bob and four other keepers began to disassemble the gate, Fluttershy led Asali back to the waiting herd. Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder, making a gesture for the mammoth sisters to follow them.

All the signs are good.

Even when all the barriers were removed, the mammoth sisters held back, standing at the border of their old enclosure almost as if they were unsure about their next move. Turning their massive, tusked heads to their right, they spied Twilight along the edge of the fence, the human that had shown them tremendous kindness and love, whom they could call their friend.

"Go." Twilight told the pachyderms softly, her eyes glowing with pride and joy.

That was all the encouragement the pair needed as they began to follow the elephant matriarch to meet the rest of the herd. Their new family.

It looks as though Martha and Mary the mammoths have been accepted by the elephant herd.

Nigel, Suzanne, Bob, Spike, Fluttershy and the rest of the girls looked on joyfully as Martha and Mary were introduced to the other members of the elephant herd, all of them keen on welcoming the newcomer, but none more than Jomo who ran around under the mammoths’ legs squealing and chirping with excitement.

They now truly had a second chance.

Suddenly, Bob’s radio began to make static as a familiar bubbly voice could be heard from it. “Guys, meet me at one of the snow fields. I’ve got a surprise for you!”

Some Time Later...

Soon, Pinkie and her friends were standing on a platform overlooking a large expansive paddock, which was mostly snowy grassland with a large lake. Awaiting their arrival was a number of park staff and five loading trucks, one of them off in the distance.

"Pinkie, what on earth have you done now?" Rarity wondered.

"Alright, boys! Let them out!" Pinkie ordered those manning the loading trucks once the ramps were in place.

First a small herd of saigas and muskoxen came barreling out of the first truck. Then, to Nigel and Fluttershy’s surprise, a female Elasmotherium trotted out of the second truck alongside a few reindeer and wisent. That was when an all too familiar trumpeting call was heard. No sooner had the doors been open when mighty beings marched out of the third and fourth trucks.

The group’s wide eyes did not deceive them; exiting the trucks was not one, not two, but a small herd of twelve woolly mammoths and a quintet group of bull mammoths! Even in the distance, charging out the final truck, was a large bull far away from the rest of the paddock's inhabitants as the truck and the workers drove off to avoid angering the beast, who Pinkie appropriately named Goliath. 

“I don’t believe it!” said an incredulous Applejack.

“I just thought if Martha and Mary didn’t get along with the elephant herd, I would bring some woolly buddies to keep them company. And I even got a girlfriend for Vlad, I like to call her Moonbeam.” Pinkie told them.

Nigel turned to Pinkie with a warm smile on his face. “Pinkie, this could be the start of something new here at Prehistoric Park. Something wonderful.”

Fluttershy smiled as well. “I bet Vlad will be really happy to see another of his kind with him. Maybe we can get a mate for the cave bear too.”

Maybe the mammoth is returning from extinction sooner than we’d thought.

“Oh, and I also tested some experiments with the time portal and turns out we don’t have to deal with monkeys ruling the future.”

The entire group exchanged looks of confusion and bewilderment.

“Pinkie, what are you talking about?” said a puzzled Nigel.

“You see, silly, I found out that the portal only opens up to alternate timelines, so we don't have to worry too much about altering our own." Pinkie explained.

"Only alternate ones?!" Twilight said in shock.

"I had a bunch of guys go through the portal and do things that would change history: introducing natives to vaccinations, stopping presidents from getting killed, and, since everyone thinks about it, assassinating “you-know-who”. When they got back, nothing changed.”

“Of course!” Twilight shouted in realization, slapping her hand against her forehead. “How could’ve I been so stupid? It’s the “causal loop” theory. Anything Fluttershy or Nigel did or took from the past already happened. That means we can mess with these timelines without recreating A Sound of Thunder.”

With that time travel theory safely in the bag, the whole group watched the herds graze the plains of their new home, just as they would’ve done during the Ice Age… in the Land of the Mammoth.

Next time on Prehistoric Park, Nigel and Fluttershy go back 125 million years to rescue one of the strangest ever dinosaurs but end up with a whole herd of giants. However, not all the residents are so friendly. Back at the park, Bob and Applejack have their hands full when the T-rex siblings turn nasty, while Suzanne and Twilight keep the mammoth sisters cool with much-needed haircuts. But for now, the elephants, Mary, and Martha are busy enjoying their dinner.




Cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) (1; 1 adult male)

Elasmotherium sibricum (2; both adults; 1 male, 1 female)

Eurasian aurochs (Bos primigenius primigenius) (5; all adults; 2 males, 3 females)

Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea) (2; both young adults; 1 male, 1 female)

Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus) (8; all adults; 4 males, 4 females)

Steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii) (1; 1 adult male)

Woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) (20; 12 adults, 5 young adults, 3 calves; 8 males, 12 females)