//------------------------------// // Storm // Story: Jurassic Pony III // by mistercokehold8 //------------------------------// Under the current of the water the boat slowly drifted down the river. After struggling with the engine, Mr. Cake was finally able to get it up and running. The group was one step closer to getting off the island, yet nopony felt like celebrating. "Got enough fuel to make it to the coast." The baker said. "Build a fire....or something to signal over head when we get there." Pound looked on as Twilight, Rainbow and Pinkie sat at the end of the boat in silence. "Are they ok?" He asked his mom quietly. "They just need some alone time sweetie." Mrs. Cake said softly. Wanting to do something Pound quietly trotted over to the three. "....I'm sorry about Soarin." Rainbow Dash visibly tensed up at the sound of his name, grinding a forehoof into the deck of the ship. Twilight looked out into the murky river. Even Pinkie had deflated at the loss of Soarin. "....you know the last thing I told him was?" Twilight asked Pound quietly. "I told him he was no better than the pony who built this place. I.....I didn’t mean it." The princess admitted. "I was angry..... "And you really meant that as an insult?" Rainbow asked bitterly without looking to her friend. "......no." Twilight said, looking at the floor. "Really? Cause you looked like you wanted to rip him a new one when he mentioned Scorch..." Rainbow glared at her reflection in the water. "Admit it Twilight... For at least a second there you hated him." Twilight chose not to say anything.....even though Rainbow was right. Rainbow closed her eyes. "...Why...?" "What?" Twilight asked, not liking this conversation. "Why did any of this have to happen? You could’ve blasted the Spino thing when we landed, why didn't you try it on those bird things?! Why did Pound have to get stranded on this island?! Why did your colt friend have to use a second island for dinosaurs?! WHY, WHY, WHY?!" Rainbow finally broke down into tears. Twilight knew anything she did wouldnt make her feel better, but that didnt stop Pinkie from pulling the cyan mare into a hug. The cyan mare hugged Pinkie hard enough to make her squeak like a dog toy, sobbing into her shoulder. Pound looked at the two with a sad look before turning to Twilight. "Is she gonna be alright?" He asked quietly. "Give her time." Twilight muttered. The boat continued down river quietly, nopony standing on it making a sound. After a while Rainbow had finally let all the tears out. Now she just wanted to be alone. "You know..." Twilight said quietly to Pound and Pinkie. "I have a theory that there are two kinds of ponies. Those who want to be astronomers and those who want to be astronauts." Pound Cake frowned in confusion, sitting in front of Twilight as he listens intently. "It's like this: I never understood why anypony would want to go into space. It's so dangerous. You do one thing wrong and you're dead. The astronomer, somepony like me get to study these amazing things from a place of complete safety. And truthfully, everything you really need to learn, you can learn it from the ground." Twilight explained to the colt. "But then you never get to go in space." Pound said. "Exactly. The difference between imagining how things might be and seeing how they really are. To be able to touch them....." Pinkie suddenly bounced high in the air, looking far off where the trees flanking the river end on one side. "Omigosh! Looklooklooklooklook!!!" "What?" Twilight turned to see what was getting the party pony so worked up. As the boat made its way around the bend, the ponies drifted through an amazing sight. With the setting creating a majestic glow, the valley in front of them was filled to the brim with large herbivore dinosaurs. The herds of Ankylosaurs, Corythosaurs and Brachiosaurs drank from the river, watching the ponies curiously as they floated by. Mr. Cake slowed down the engine so they could get a longer look at the dinosaurs. Even Rainbow turns to stare back at them, remembering the wonder that had filled her the first time she had seen such creatures. Several of the towering Brachios step closer to loom over the ponies, staring down at them in equal wonder. "You know something Princess," Pound says with a smile. "…Soarin was right." Rainbow wipes her eyes, and turns her gaze to the side to look at Twilight. Then slowly she walked over, putting her hooves around the princess for a hug. Twilight's eye began to water up as she put her hooves around the cyan mare. The sun was completely out of the sky just short while later. Clouds were beginning to roll in overhead, signifying a chance of rain later in the evening. The ponies in the boat were keeping an eye out for anything that might come out of the jungle. Coming up to a cluster of tree's Twilight heard an all too familiar jingle. "Everypony quiet." She said to the others. Mr. Cake killed the engine as so to make less noise. The high pitch jingled grew louder, and as the boat drifted around the bend..... They saw not the Spinosaurus, but the piles of dinosaur dung it left. The jingle was coming from one of the piles. "Find it before it stops!" Mr. Cake said as he, Twilight, Mrs. Cake and Pinkie jumped off the boat, all having the same idea. With a flick of her tail Pinkie flings rubber hoof gloves to them all, and then whips out a metal detector as she starts running it over the piles, listening carefully to her headphones. Twilight and the Cakes couldnt wait for Pinkie to find the phone. Putting on the rubber gloves, the three began the unsettling task of digging through the piles of dung. It was next to impossible to ignore the smell as the ponies pulled out various remains including a broken pair of glasses, a leg bone and a jaw bone before Twilight finally struck pay dirt. "I got it!" Twilight said, pulling out the ringing phone. "Hello? Hello?!" The princess said, answering the phone. "You too can own a time share in beautiful Guadalajara. Enjoy a meal in one of our four star restaurants, explore our coral reefs, or just walk on the beach..." Twilight hung up on the recorded call, turning off the phone as well. "Aaaiiiiiiieeeeeeee!!!!!!!" Pinkie suddenly leaps back to the others while Pound began shouting. "Look out!" From out of the jungle came stomped the horned dinosaur known as a Carnotaur. Twilight and the Cakes froze as the red dinosaur growled at the ponies. However before it attempted to do anything it bent down and got a good sniff from the ponies. It wont eat anything covered in poop. Groaning, the Carnotaur stood up and walked back into the jungle. Twilight looked at the ponies hooves, getting a good smell herself. "After tonight.....we dont speak of this to any pony....." She said, trying not to get sick. "Agreed," Rainbow groaned. The ponies took their time to wash off their hooves before climbing back onto the boat. The structure floated back down the river as the clouds above head began to crackling with thunder and lightning as the rain poured down around the group, soaking them to the bone once more. Mister Cake has to raise his voice over the thunder and rain so Twilight can hear him. "It looks like it has enough power for one call, make it count. But whatever you do don't call the embassy, they won't do a thing!" Twilight began thinking on who she would call. "Any ideas?" She asked Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. "Next time we go on a trip anywhere make sure Spike is with us?" Rainbow raises an eyebrow. "I mean you know the princesses hate using phones, and the ponies they hired to answer phones for them would probably brush it under the rug." Pinkie bounced twice. "How about Trixie? I bet she'll get somepony to meet us at the coast! No way she'd let anypony get eaten by dinosaurs!" Twilight tucked the phone away. Rainbow hovered up into the air. "Maybe I should scout ahead, see just how safe the coast is, and if there's any good shelter." "I don't think that's a good idea in this weather Rainbow." Twilight said as another thunder crash rang out. "Pssh," Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof. "Please Twi, I train in this kind of weather. Be careful while I'm gone!" Then she bolts skywards, leaving a rainbow vapor trail in her wake. Before Twilight could try to call the pegasus back, Pound began calling to the group. "Hey guys! Come look at this!" Twilight, Pinkie and the colt's parents trotted to the back of the boat as the rain fell around them. Looking in the water the group saw a school of fish swimming away quickly. "Bonitas." Twilight explained. "Something must've spooked them." Pound said. "Get the engines going Mr. Cake." The mare said, pulling out the phone. She knew who to use her phone call on. "Come on....come on.....pick up...." Twilight muttered as she heard the dial tone. Mr. Cake went back to trying to get the engine to work. The phone of Carousel Boutique started to ring, but the only one to here is the young foal Shooting Star. His mother was outside discussing new aesthetics for Trixie's new mobie home, which is actually a rather cozy bus with its own hired driver. The little unicorn picks up the phone, and puts up to his ear. "Hello?" That wasn’t who Twilight was expecting to pick up. "Shooting Star?" She shouted confused over the bad weather. "Take the phone to Rarity or your mother! Tell them it’s Twilight!" "Okay," he says, and starts trotting off. He's distracted however by the television set up in Rarity’s waiting room. The commercial break finally ended his favorite show the Power Ponies came back on. So he sat in front of the television to watch it, completely forgetting the phone in his hoof. "Star? Shooting Star are you taking the phone to mommy?" Twilight gulped, knowing now that their fate now rests in the hooves of a colt barely old enough to start school. Mr. Cake tried again to get the engine running. As Twilight tried getting the colts attention on the phone, not a single pony noticed the large sail slowly breaching the water, moving its way through the boat. "Shooting Star?" Twilight ask as the boat lurched forward, something large ramming into it. The ponies went spilling onto the floor as the dinosaur that's been chasing them, the Spinosaurus, reared its large head out of the water, roaring loudly into the night. "Oh give me a break!!!!" Twilight screamed, not happy with how their lucks been holding out. The ponies scrambled as the large dinosaur completely shattered the small room Mr. Cake was using to steer the boat. Pinkie pulls Mrs. Cake and Pound Cake into a cage that had been secured to the deck of the ship. "Quick! Everypony!" The Spinosaurus brought it claws down as Twilight and Mr. Cake threw themselves into the cage. While trying to pull the door shut, Twilight watched as the phone slipped out of her hoof, sliding down the deck. She tried to reach out for it with her magic, but with the weather pouring down on her with a looming monster overhead she can't focus. The Spinosaurus pressed down on the end of the boat, slowly tilting it into the air, causing the cage the ponies seek refuge in to go sliding back and forth, the phone along with it. Growling, the beast zoned in onto the cage, taking hold of it with its massive claws. The loudest sounds filling their ears are the screams of Pinkie, the thunder, and the roaring of the large predator. In Ponyville Shooting Star looked down at the phone in his hooves, remembering he was supposed to give it to his mother. And so he trotted out to give it to her. Trixie had just finished with Rarity, her son coming with the wireless phone. "Mommy, the princess is on the phone looking for you!" "Is she now?" Trixie takes the phone in her magic, putting Shooting Star on her back. "Hello? Twilight?" She frowns at the lack of answer, noted the line had disconnected. Rolling her eyes she dials the number on the readout, calling Twilight right back. On the boat the Spinosaurus had punctured the fuel tank, spilling fuel onto the boat. As the cage slid back and forth the phone began to ring. "The phone! Get the phone!" Twilight shouted. The ponies reached out of the cage for the phone, which slid just out of their reach. The weight of the large dinosaur shifted the phone back towards them....just as the Spinosaurus yanked the cage off the boat and into the water. "Trixie! Trixie I need you to listen to me!" "Twilight? Are you on a cell phone? It's hard to hear you." Trixie said. "THE RIVER!!!" Twilight screamed into the phone as the cage began to sink into the water. "SITE B!!!! THE RIVER!!!!" The cage fully sank into the water, taking the mare down with it. Trixie looked perplexed and nervous as the rapid dull beeping fills her ear. She turned when Rarity returns seconds later. "Oh there you are, I just got a call from Twilight, she sounded... frantic... does 'Site B' mean anything to you?" Shooting Star starts chasing Rarity's cat Opal around the boutique shouting, "Rawr rawr rawr!!!" Rarity's heart dropped at the mention of Site B. "Start making calls!!!" The ponies in the cage struggled for air as the Spinosaurus kept turning the cage in an attempt to get the beings inside it. "YyyyyyeeeeeeeeeaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" A familiar battle cry fills the air, punctuated by the sound of a loud blast, and a wave of rainbow in wide ring lighting up the sky above. Seconds later Rainbow Dash slammed into the side of the brute at high speeds. This did nothing more that tick the dinosaur off. Turning, the Spinosaurus began snapping and swatting at Rainbow Dash. Yelping she bobs, and swirled around the lumbering brute like a fly, far too noble to be hit. But it does give the others time without the Spinosaurus attacking the cage. The door to the cage fell open, Mr. Cake taking a fall out. The large dinosaur was getting annoyed with the mare buzzing around her. Roaring loudly, the Spinosaurus was able to land a lucky swipe with his tail. Rainbow Dash spiraled out of the air, crash landing into the bank of the river where she is mostly hidden under mud. During the commotion of the tumbling cage underwater, Mr. Cake was able to swim to the surface while the others struggled. Now rid of Rainbow Dash, the Spinosaurus turned its attention to the cage, turning it back over with the open door out of the water. The baker knew he had to something, so he started swimming to the abandoned crane just off the shore. The carnivore reached in with its large claws, trying to hook anything. The ponies inside scream, especially Mrs. Cake when one of those meat-hook claws slices into her thigh. Throwing caution to the wind, Mr. Cake braced the stormy weather as he climbed his way atop of the construction vehicle. "Hey! Heeeeey!!!!" The baker shouted at the top of his lungs, waving his front hooves, trying to get the Spinosaurus attention. The creature roared, letting go of Mrs. Cake, and turning its attention to the single pony just above its head. "That's right! Up here!!!!" While the dinosaur was distracted, Twilight was able to help the remaining ponies in the cage out and into the water, diving in after them. Swimming down to the bottom in hopes of finding something to use, her luck granted her a flare gun. On shore Pinkie quickly dug a dazed and confused Rainbow Dash from the mud. "You alright?!" Rainbow Dash looked thoroughly dazed. "Did anypony get the number of that sky wagon...?" The Spinosaurus roared loudly, ramming its head into the crane, shaking it violently enough to cause the stallion to lose his footing, slipping off, just barely able to catch himself. Twilight lifted the flare gun to see if it was loaded. She only had one shot at this. Aiming the small gun, she fired the flare that bounced harmlessly off the large dinosaur, before landing in the fuel soaked water. Immediately the oil ignites, creating an inferno under the great monster. For the first time it displays fear. Crying out it backed off, and climbs onto the bank before charging away in the forest, smashing the base of the crane with its tail as it goes. Mr. Cake screamed out as the crane snapped, sending him into the flaming water below. "Carrot!!!" Mrs. Cake screamed, Twilight and Pinkie having to hold her and Pound back as the fire raged. Rainbow Dash regained her senses, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened. Slowly she bowed her head, and stared sadly at the ground. "DAD!!!!!" Pound's voice echoed out into the stormy night. The fire burned on, the ponies standing there in disbelief. Twilight had to turn away, taking comfort with Pinkie and Rainbow. "Carrot you jerk!!!!" Mrs. Cake sobbed at the fire. "You can't leave me like this!!!!" ".....I'm not going anywhere." All the ponies turned to see Mr. Cake standing on the edge of the beach, unharmed, alive and looking really confused at his family. "Dad!!!" Pound threw his front hooves around his father, followed by Mrs. Cake hugging her husband tightly. Twilight let out a sigh of relief, thankful they didnt lose another pony. Rainbow and Pinkie smiled with tears in their eyes. The both of them walk up to either side of Twilight, nuzzling her softly. "Let's get out of here guys." Twilight said to everypony present as the rain continued to fall around them.