//------------------------------// // 2. T-Rex Returns [Pt. 2] // Story: Equestria Girls: Prehistoric Park REIMAGINED // by zooloverryan //------------------------------// Time: Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian, 66 MYA Location: North America, Montana, USA Mission Log: Day 1 Days Until Meteor Impact: 4 Bird and insect calls echo throughout the lush environment of late Cretaceous Montana. Trees, ferns, and bushes sway in the breeze blowing along the forest's edge. However, the calm and gentle sounds of prehistoric nature are interrupted by the engine of Fluttershy’s Land Rover.  As she drives, Fluttershy can't help but take in the awe and wonder of this ancient world. 66 million years ago, Montana looked very different from the semiarid Great Plains state.  Despite the lush environment, this is a world before grass, which won't appear for another ten million years. Here, T. rex is king. Now, all Fluttershy needs to do is find one. Fluttershy eventually reaches her destination, a campsite being set up by a large team. They had arrived before Fluttershy to ensure everything was safe before beginning the mission. So far, the team has not encountered or seen any of the local wildlife  Despite being there to collect prehistoric species, it's a good thing that they haven't. None of the animals have seen humans before and never encountered primates since they won't appear for another ten million years. As a result, some might become curious, which could endanger the team.  While dinosaurs aren't monsters, herbivores could view them as threats and predators could view them as prey. However, the wildlife here is the least of their worries. In a place with so many potential dangers, Fluttershy and her team know the sooner they accomplish their mission, the better. Fluttershy parks the Land Rover at the campsite and quickly looks over it being set up. "I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew; we've got so little time."   Fluttershy is right. Some of the team brought telescopes and spotted the meteor. Based on their assumptions, they have about four days until it hits. The team is scrambling to get everything set up as quickly as possible, but Fluttershy doesn't plan to wait for them to finish. "There's a wonderful forest over there, perfect habitat, and I think that's where we'll begin our search for T. rex." It's been a few hours since Fluttershy began trekking through the forest. Unfortunately, she has not found any dinosaurs or other signs of wildlife. To some degree, it's a relief to Fluttershy.  However, traveling through a late Cretaceous forest likely dominated by a T. rex or two is unsettling. T. Rex is a monster.  At a staggering 45 feet long and 10 tons, some would think it shouldn't be too hard to track one down. "Tyrannosaurus rex was the apex predator of this time. The adults were so large and bulky that they could only run up to 10 miles per hour, though some speculate they could top out at 17 miles per hour. Therefore, they likely relied on ambush tactics when hunting, which wouldn't have been difficult for them since fossilized tracks of T. rex showed evidence that their feet were padded.  Thick pads on the bottom of their feet allowed T. rex to move silently, even when they weren't actively trying to. Modern animals like elephants and tigers have these on the bottom of their feet, and you rarely hear them when they walk. Far different from the ground-shaking, bellowing monster you've seen in the movies. What I'm most concerned about is the juveniles. They fill out a niche of their own compared to the adults.  They are significantly faster, speculated to approach speeds of about 30 miles per hour. Not even Usain Bolt could outrun that. Juveniles would have specialized in smaller and faster prey while the adults preyed on the large and armored ones. And I would make more of a meal for a juvenile than an adult. But despite that, I would be thrilled if we find a T. rex, regardless of if it's a juvenile or an adult." What she'll do when she does find one is not exactly clear. Fluttershy continues through the forest. She can hear birds and possibly pterosaurs and dinosaurs in the distance. She reaches a small creek and crosses it by walking across a fallen log. T. rex are not the only creatures around. Fluttershy spots something up ahead and darts toward it. She sees the vegetation in the spot was disturbed. "This must be a trackway. And look - you can see here these leaves have been nibbled, these twigs have been snapped off, there's been a vegetarian browsing here. And here - the first evidence of dinosaurs. Hard to see, but you can see this footprint here. Three toes. This is the classic theropod dinosaur - the same family the T. rex is in. They stand on two legs; they're bipedal. It looks like there's a whole group of them here, not as big as T. rex, of course, and vegetarians, you can tell by the leaves that they've eaten.  And they've gone this way. This is a big trackway; there must be quite a few of them." As she investigates, she sees the footprints heading into the dense underbrush nearby. "And they've gone down this way." Her hunch is right. As Fluttershy approaches the brush, she sees the branches and leaves shaking.  But it's too rapid and random to be the wind. "That bush is rustling.  And this is what normally happens when you're searching for large animals- you hear them before you see them, hidden scurrying away through the bushes.  They're still moving around there.  These could be our first dinosaurs."  Fluttershy whispers. She grabs her binoculars, hoping to get a closer look at whatever is running around, hidden in the bushes. However, just as she is about to look through them, she hears a squawking sound from her right. She quickly looks over and sees something walking out of the bush towards her.  Its appearance reminded her of an emu as it was similar in height and covered in feathers like one with similar coloration. However, this one had pronounced blue feathering along the throat, resembling a cassowary, and a small crest of feathers on top of its head; its arms, which had white feathers at the edge, had three digits with small claws at the end and a long tail. "You see that?" Fluttershy asks as the dinosaur makes another, more muted squawk.  "Ornithomimus velox, I've seen the fossils in museums.  Ornithomimus velox means swift or rapid bird mimic, and you can see why exactly like ratites such as ostriches, emus, rheas, and cassowaries.  See how close we can get." She takes one step closer, and the ornithomimus lets out a hiss as it spreads its wings, making itself appear bigger and more dangerous. Fluttershy retreats behind a tree to not make the animal any more uncomfortable. "Woah, that hiss felt like it went right through me. That was a warning. And look." The heads of other ornithomimus began popping out from the bushes. "All of the others, all of them, are up; he must have been the sentry.  Their heads are looking at us, heads popping up all over the place." The emu-sized theropods were staring at her, wondering what she was but also out of caution. "They're mostly herbivorous, but they won't turn their noses on insects, crustaceans, or small animals.  They're completely the opposite of what you'd imagine a dinosaur to be like. This is terrific, our first dinosaurs." Though still wary of Fluttershy, the ornithomimus had calmed down enough to start foraging on the plants around them. Fluttershy watches in awe and admiration at these magnificent animals. "Look, look.  You can see differences between some individuals in the flock. The ones with the blue feathered necks and white-tipped wings, like the one that hissed at us, are likely the males, while the rest with all brown coloration are likely the females. In many modern birds, including ratites like ostriches, the males have colorful feathers, while the females have more dull colors.  This is likely to help attract potential mates and ward off rivals. It's amazing to see sexual dimorphism in dinosaurs." Sadly, these Ornithomimus will soon be extinct too, unless, of course, Fluttershy can save one. "I'd love a breeding flock of Ornithomimus at Prehistoric Park," Fluttershy says as she sits down and removes her boot and sock. "But we need a technique for catching them. And I think this will work; I've done it with ostriches. And what you do is slip a sock over their head. As soon as you cover their eyes, they calm down." Fluttershy explains before putting her boot back on and standing up. “The only troubles what I've got is these things can run up to 45 miles per hour, and if they're anything like ratites, they've got to have a powerful kick, and the claws on their feet could likely disembowel someone like me. Ostriches have been known to kill lions, and cassowaries are considered the most dangerous birds in modern times because of how powerful their kicks and sharp claws are. However, unlike ratites, these things have claws on their wings. There are so many in this flock, though, and they don't know what to make of me, but if I get in the midst of them, there'll be commotion, and hopefully, I can grab hold of one of them without being kicked or clawed at." Fluttershy slowly walks toward the flock of Ornithomimus. Some stare at her, but most continue feeding.  However, as she reaches her striking range, all of them are now staring at her, wondering what she is and what she'll do. Fluttershy freezes and looks at the flock, carefully scanning to select her target. She quickly finds one, a female who happens to be the one closest to her. With her sock in hand, Fluttershy lunges. The Ornithomimus, startled by this strange creature lunging at them, panicked and ran.  The female she is targeting gets slowed down by several other Ornithomimus getting in her way, allowing Fluttershy to grab her. Once she has a hold of her, she attempts to get her sock over the ostrich dinosaur’s head while the rest of the flock scurry off into the brush. Fluttershy struggles to get the sock on, but the female Ornithomimus makes it very difficult. However, as she struggles to get the sock on, something in the distance has sensed the commotion. Just as Fluttershy is about to get the sock over the Ornithomimus' head, the flock returns. However, instead of engaging with Fluttershy, they run right past her. Feeling that something isn't right, Fluttershy lets the female go, and she joins them. Now there's something else to contend with.  Something much, much bigger. "Something’s either chasing them or scared them back this way." Fluttershy stands up and looks where the flock had come from, only to see the cause of the flock's change in direction—much to her amazement but also dread. [iIt looks like the T. rex had found Fluttershy before Fluttershy could find them. Standing before Fluttershy were three T. rexes. They appeared to be sub-adults, almost fully grown. They were a mottled brown color with a cream underbelly. There are streaks of brown down their mouths and snouts, resembling stripes. Above their eye were crests that appeared prominent. The three looked down at her, surprised by what they were staring at. She smelled like a mammal to them, but she was much bigger and looked vastly different from any mammal they'd ever seen or smelled before.  Unfortunately, despite being much larger than Fluttershy, the three Tyrannosaurs began hissing and grumbling at her, baring their massive teeth, unsure what to make of her. Fluttershy, however, is trying to remain calm during this ordeal. "No sudden moves," Fluttershy says as she slowly backs up as the three theropod predators inch closer. Many thoughts run through her head as she considers every possible way to escape this situation. Unfortunately, Fluttershy realizes that there is only one option: run. Fluttershy bolts toward the trees in the same direction as the Ornithomimus. The three massive predators were briefly surprised by Fluttershy's sudden decision but quickly regained their composure and chased after her. Fluttershy sprints as fast as she can through the forest, desperately trying to escape the three T. rexes, all while they hiss at her, reminiscent of crocodiles and alligators. Fluttershy’s attempt at finding a T. rex didn't go as planned. Luckily, Fluttershy does have two advantages. Despite T. rex being speculated to run up to 17 miles per hour, Fluttershy’s smaller size in this dense forest allows her to move faster. The only downside is that the predators don't need to move at top speed to catch up to her. Thanks to their size and long legs, an adult Tyrannosaurus rex can cover more ground while moving than a human can. In addition to their elongated posture, the predators are getting dangerously close to catching Fluttershy. Thankfully, the other advantage is that T. rex is so top-heavy that if they trip, the fall could seriously injure or even kill them. Fluttershy manages to duck and run under a fallen tree- not a moment too soon, as one of the rexes reaches its head over and snaps at her but misses. The dinosaur releases one last hiss, this one more powerful. Fluttershy, however, keeps running until she finds a large bush. "Get down, get down," Fluttershy orders as she stares at the three from behind the bush. The treeline and brush are too dense for the three Tyrannosaurs to get through. Eventually, they realize the chase is not worth it, turning and walking away. Once Fluttershy sees they're far enough away, she gets up from behind the bush. "That was a close one," Fluttershy panted, looking back and seeing that the three were long gone.  "The predators don't like confined spaces like this. That's why, I think, they're staying back there. I don't think they chased after me because they saw me as food or a threat, but it was because I ran. That likely triggered their chasing instinct; all predators have it. They also likely did it out of curiosity. They could have eaten me had they caught me, but I doubt that was their goal when they first saw me. *Pant* I think what we got to do now is head back to camp."  With that, Fluttershy begins her hike back to camp. As the day shifts to evening, Fluttershy is still hiking back to camp. She begins reminiscing about today's events: traveling back in time, encountering her first dinosaurs, a flock of Ornithomimus, almost capturing one of them, and then being chased by a trio of Tyrannosaurus rex.  Unfortunately, this has Fluttershy feeling slightly down. Day one over, and there's no T. rex to take home. At least there's no sight of the meteor, either. But it can't be far away.