//------------------------------//
// 2- To Uncover The Truth 
// Story: The Lost Ponies: Jurassic Park 
// by CompactDisc 
//------------------------------//

Marty Gutierrez nodded slowly, one hand cradling his chin and the other supporting his elbow. “Yeah,” he said simply to the shorter Costa Rican man on his right. “No different to the others.”

The sun was still warm as it began to set, casting lengthy shadows on the beach. Gutierrez was all too aware that the sun set quickly here and he looked up, wincing as he scanned the skies. With a shake of his head he gave up trying to spot the damned helicopter, instead continuing to look at the large, unsightly corpse before him. 

This was the fifth carcass of its type that washed up on the Costa Rican beaches and yet the horrid stench was never any easier to cope with. He’d passed gagging and now stood some ten feet from the decomposing form, holding his stomach for all it was worth. Nonetheless, each specimen was truly astonishing. He’d heard of them, alive, back in the early nineties after joining John Hammond’s genetics company and apparently they were like nothing else mankind had ever done. He thought it unfortunate that despite working for Hammond for over six years, he’d never seen a live one, instead having to clean up leaks and messes such as this.

Gutierrez pursed his lips. They made him redundant in late 1993. They made everyone redundant in 1993 and for plenty good enough reason – the project had collapsed. That made sense to him. What didn’t make sense to him was that between 1995 and the present summer of 1997, five corpses had washed ashore, carried by the waves. Strangely their frequency had increased: in all of 1995 only one was found and nobody thought anything of it. The end of the project was messy and many of the specimens were killed. Many of those directly involved had returned to the mainland sworn to secrecy, so those on the lower tier of the company – Gutierrez included – had theorised it was a matter of time before remains were washed towards Costa Rica.

The next showed up in mid 1996 which ruffled the feathers of those tasked with hiding it. It was a stretch that a specimen would wash ashore in 1995, two years after the incident. But for another to make its way landward three years after was more than simple coincidence in the eyes of many. A lot of ex-employees working for the Costa Rican authorities tried to seek answers, at which point the government quickly reminded them that there would be no answers – they were all still signed to secrecy, both to give and receive information.

Four months after that specimen the next arrived, washing ashore in December ’96. It was quickly followed by another, arriving three months on and then finally, after thirty days, came the most recent specimen; the one lying before Gutierrez. Miraculously, given the frequency and nature of the specimens, he had kept on top of it all. That was one of the many reasons as to why the authorities had allowed him to stay reasonably free from close surveillance, unlike most of Hammond’s ex-employees. Alongside his excellent track record whilst employed by the company, he kept his head down, didn’t snoop around, and did his job.
Despite this, word of these specimens – these ‘aberrant forms’ – had leaked a little but nobody in government appeared worried quite yet. Word spread to some close circles of leading biogenetic scientists and a small number of government officials not involved with the project. This the authorities could handle; for the most part the leakage was internal and not public. In some instances, the corpses were discovered by tourists but before there was any chance of them spreading what they’d seen, the authorities closed in quickly...

In recent times the authorities had reason to be at unease as worryingly true rumours began to circulate amongst academic circles. Many ex-employees of the company were quick to point the blame towards Ian Malcolm: they all knew he was there when the incident occurred, and he was sharp of tongue and quick of mind – logic and rationale said that he had to be the one spreading the rumours. What wasn’t known for certain however was that Malcolm had also signed a secrecy agreement and would be a fool to breach its terms, something that the authorities knew all too well.

Three months ago on the turn of the New Year, Gutierrez had been contacted by palaeobiologist Richard Levine. He’d heard of these aberrant forms and, when pushed for answers regarding how he knew, refused to elaborate stating simply that it was ‘word on the grapevine.’ He’d asked if he could be part of the cleanup process should another specimen appear which of course Gutierrez refused – it was his job to keep a facade up, to make the aberrant forms disappear from the public sphere.

When Levine had offered an eight-figure sum of money to be a part of the next cleanup the truth came out. The authorities were quick to demand Levine meet with Gutierrez and other officials from the cover-up operation. The meeting took place that same week. Again, the authorities had pushed Levine for answers, but he remained stout, saying only that he had ‘connections in the right circles’ and nothing more. He followed his statement up with two briefcases which themselves needed no explanation.
Though morally against bribery, Gutierrez was at the mercy of his seniors who did not hesitate in accepting the cash offer. Levine himself signed a secrecy document and was to expect a call should Gutierrez and his team be given another assignment. That assignment finally washed itself ashore eight hours ago and Gutierrez was quick to contact Levine. As day broke the beach was cordoned off, a round-the-clock guard patrolling the perimeter as science teams took what they needed.

Gutierrez himself arrived at the site about half an hour ago with his aide Diego. It was their job to stand a close guard alongside the corpse until Levine arrived by helicopter – he was due soon, set to arrive before the night closed in but as Gutierrez looked skyward once more he grimaced: the sun had sank ever lower and the hues of reds and oranges began to fade. Levine was running very late indeed. With a shake of his head he looked towards the specimen once more, examining the remains. He dared to go a little closer to it than usual, squinting closely at its features. Decomposition meant there were few preserved, well-defined parts of this creature, but there was plenty of skeletal structure and flesh remains to inspect. What remained of the hide looked thick and well-built. Ribs protruded from rotting flesh. Patches of skin adorned the dense muscle structure, its surface looking rough and well-built.

“Amigo,” Diego called as Gutierrez had subconsciously reached towards the specimen. “Don’t go any closer, it will make you unwell.”

It was only then that he actively realised just how close he’d come to the remains. Certainly closer than the Costa Rican authorities would permit and with a near-silent huff he stepped back. Though Diego served as his subordinate, he also acted as another more trusted set of eyes and ears for the government. It was true that Gutierrez was a trusted figure. But even so, the authorities needed someone they could trust fully – hence their decision to appoint ‘aides’ to all lead investigators after the arrival of the first specimen.

Gutierrez was not supposed to know of the true nature of the aides but in an almost ironic twist of fate he’d come to learn of their role. He, who was employed by a government agency to keep secrets, had in fact learned secrets from the very same agency. This fact in itself was yet another secret for Gutierrez to keep under wraps...

The whirr of a nearby helicopter quickly drew him out of his thoughts. It didn’t take long before it came into view and closed in, the pilot opting to make a low pass of the beach prior to landing. Gutierrez held onto his hat. He watched the helicopter slow on its second pass, its downdraft gaining in strength as it gently hovered in place, gracefully touching down after a short descent. Almost immediately a suited man hopped from the craft – no doubt an agency official, sent to begin the paperwork. Behind him, two more men disembarked. They were armed with flamethrowers: it was standard protocol that all specimens be destroyed. The risk of them being spotted during transfer away from the discovery site was too great. And finally, the last to alight, Richard Levine himself. Gutierrez watched as he wasted no time in barging past the agency men, his eyes trained on the specimen.
“I came as soon as I got your call two days ago...” Levine trailed off as he approached. “Wow...”

“Senor! No closer,” cried the agency drone. “It is dangerous.”

But Levine was oblivious to the pleas. His gaze was locked on the dead animal, a sparkle of awe in his eye. He stood dumbstruck and silent for what became an uncomfortable length of time but, before Gutierrez could speak, he exploded into action, caught up in his own words. “Far too big to be any familiar lizard,” Levine began, gesturing animatedly. “Far too big. No way is this any monitor lizard, even with the swelling that’s occurred. Oh, and look at these teeth.  Neat rows of perfectly flat molars, much like a cow’s. Adapted for grazing on soft conifers. Do you see it, Marty?”

“Yeah,” Gutierrez responded, trying to avoid being drawn into another lecture from the man. He answered simply on autopilot.
Levine nodded his head as he stood back, taking the specimen in fully. “This is definitely a dinosaur,” he concluded. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. “A real dinosaur... Difficult to tell owing to the decomposition but it looks like a Hadrosaur... Oh wow. Hah! I was right, I knew it. Wait ‘til Doctor Malcolm sees this.” As he spoke, he slipped a camera from his jacket pocket but immediately the agency official was in front of him, hand over the camera.

“No photos, senor.”

“I’ll take photos if I like,” Levine bit back, wrenching his hand free from the agency man’s grip. He went to turn from the man in an attempt to get a picture but once more he was accosted, this time with Diego holding him tightly.

“Senor, stop struggling...”

“Get off me! You don’t understand, this is an important academic find—”

Another quick jolt and Levine pulled his arm free, but his swing kept going and he accidentally made contact with Diego who proceeded to flare up. Immediately the atmosphere thickened and all were drawn into Levine’s petty scrap – all, save for Gutierrez, who was quick to take action.

As the group of men were busy yelling at one another he removed a pen-knife from his pocket, moving alongside the specimen and hacking off a small portion of flesh. Immediately he wrapped it in some tissues and as discreetly as possible placed both the sample and the knife into his pocket. 

Gutierrez looked up. Nobody had seen him.

Suddenly, and with a whoosh, the corpse went up in flames – clearly, the authorities present had deemed Levine needed quietening. Gutierrez jumped back as the heat intensified, the bulky mass beginning to hiss and crackle. Skin peeled away and fat reserves burst; the specimen began to lose shape and collapse inward on itself.

Levine flew into an exasperated rage. “What are you morons doing?! Don’t you understand anything?!...”

Gutierrez smiled to himself as he stepped back. True, he had just broken a lot of regulations set out by the Costa Rican government and the US government, but sometimes rules were there to be broken. It was very rarely that he followed such a mantra, but in this instance Gutierrez felt he could excuse himself: the project had collapsed around Hammond’s organisation because of their poor handling of the entire situation. That much was well-known amongst ex-employees. And now, it was the ex-employees who were clearing up the mess. Though he was against these specimens becoming public knowledge, Gutierrez felt strongly that the company’s creations – and to a wider extent, InGen themselves - should be known amongst select circles in the academic and scientific community. The greatest minds in this particular field might be able to explain why so many corpses kept washing up on the mainland shores, and why all this was happening four years after InGen’s demise. Quite simply, he felt there was more to it all than chance and when Levine had approached him he saw an opportunity: Levine had contacts, time, and money. From the moment they had met, Gutierrez knew he’d help the man in whatever way he could, even if it meant undermining his past and current employers. No doubt, a sample would be of great value.

He nodded to himself, staring into the flames. Levine would thank him later.


****





It was growing late in Santa Fe. The day had long since given way to night and Twilight found herself in her small apartment, attempting to unwind after yet another day of solid study and research. All she had succeeded in doing, however, was replaying Malcolm and Levine’s exchange from two weeks ago following the lecture. At this juncture, Twilight was unsure where Levine would hear such rumours from and why he was so convicted to the idea. Further to this she was a little untrusting of Malcolm himself; he had been quick – too quick – to brush Levine off. True, the men clearly held each other in contempt. But even this did not seem reason to denounce Levine’s claims so quickly and surely. It just didn’t seem right. And this, coupled with what her research from the past two weeks had brought to light, had made her think there might well be more to Levine’s claims than Malcolm would have her believe.

Twilight had since told all of this, and the rest of her findings and events, to Princess Celestia via a satellite video uplink on her laptop.

The Princess had listened earnestly as Twilight regaled everything she could remember, nodding and humming in agreement here and there. “So you yourself are beginning to believe Doctor Levine’s stories?” she said as her most faithful student finished speaking.

“I... Yes,” Twilight replied. She nodded slowly. “At first I thought it far too advanced for humankind to have achieved anything like this. Their technology is incredible – just look at what it’s allowing us to do right now! –but I didn’t think they could ever create living animals. That’s even too advanced for most levels of magic, so far as I can tell.” She watched Celestia nod in agreement. “But I was able to find a little information in various journals and books, and I’ve yet to see an outright denial of Levine’s stories in any sources. Not to mention the conversation between him and Doctor Malcolm at the lecture. There just seemed to be something more to it all, something else to discover... If it is true, this will be groundbreaking. It’d be incredible!” She felt a rush of excitement as she spoke. “If what I’m feeling is correct, humankind will have brought ancient flora and fauna back from extinction! Their command of science is magic all of itself.”

“Truly remarkable, indeed,” Princess Celestia noted. She smiled. “I can only assume you’ll want to stay on Earth for a little while longer should developments of any kind in this field occur.”

“Absolutely,” Twilight answered quickly, excitedly. “If it’s true, this will be a huge discovery for humankind and something that ponykind could learn from. We can study how they did it, the science behind it. We can learn about Earth’s ancient animals using the very animals themselves!”

“Very true.” Celestia nodded slowly. “There is much to learn.”

Expecting the princess to continue, Twilight allowed a pause. It was only when she did not that Twilight came to realise: she had heard the princess use that tone before. There was more that needed to be said.

“But...?”

“But this sounds like a particularly dangerous avenue of conducting research, especially if you were to come into contact with ancient animals. Neither we nor humanity knows how they will act, what they will do. This also sounds like a highly delicate matter for humanity. To get the answers you seek could involve stepping on somepony’s hooves, as it were. Of course, I want you to conduct whatever research interests you, and I want you to enjoy your time on Earth. But I also want you to be safe, Twilight.”

Slowly, Twilight nodded. She had naturally already weighed up the dangers of such a situation, leading to an aggressive panic attack just thinking about what could happen in a worst case scenario. Fortunately she was able to steer herself away from chaos and panic, chatting to her friends via video-conversation easing the stress. But it was still something that weighed heavily on her mind. It’d certainly be a groundbreaking discovery, but it could potentially be a dangerous one.

“If I didn’t think you could handle yourself, I would not have asked you and your friends to head to Earth at all and conduct the research that you are,” Princess Celestia continued with a reassuring smile. “Twilight, you have more than proved yourself as capable of tackling any situation with your quick mind and your confidence. You have fought some of the truest evil Equestria has ever seen, and you and your friends have pulled through each time. There is a reason you are an Element of Harmony.” 
Twilight blushed, about to respond before being cut off.

“I do, however, have one concern – the lack of our magical manipulation on Earth.”  There was a brief silence as the words sank in. “Your abilities as a spellcaster are unique, Twilight. You are able to manipulate Equestria’s magical field with complete ease. But Earth’s magical field compared to that of Equestria is nowhere near as strong,” the princess concluded. “Even I am unable to spellcast to the best of my ability on Earth. Not to talk down to you, but without magic as a ‘back-up plan’ in the event of a sticky situation – being under threat from a dinosaur, for instance – you will have to rely on your intellect, quick-thinking and leadership skills to avoid trouble.” Another heavy silence. “Please, just... be safe.”

Twilight was quite taken aback. She didn’t often see this more concerned, motherly side of the Princess. She watched wordlessly as Celestia’s horn glowed, and from somewhere beyond the laptop screen a little mug of tea floated into view. The Princess took a graceful sip, her lighter, happier quality returning.

“Not that I don’t have faith in you, of course. But I would like you to bear that in mind.”

“I...” Twilight drew a deep breath. “I will, Princess Celestia.”

“Good.” Celestia smiled, taking another drink. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my little pony, I must see to some official business. I will be in contact soon!”

“Goodbye... Thank you again for your advice.”

And with a smile from Celestia, the uplink disconnected. Twilight was left staring at a blank laptop screen as new thoughts buzzed in her head. For Princess Celestia, co-ruler of all Equestria, to stress the issue of safety to her in such a manner... 
Her head began to spin and she felt uneasy. She’d been here before, countless times: this was the onset of a panic attack. Turning away from her laptop, she cantered over to the bed and lay down, her eyes closed.

One...

Two...

Three...

Four...

Twilight began to take steadying breaths as she focussed her mind on thoughts of her friends, of home. She knew she was a long way from home and although her closest friends were also currently on Earth, she was all too aware of the thousands of miles separating them. But as she steadied herself she allowed thoughts of their friendship to ease her worries. 

It was working. She began to relax, regaining her composure. A smile was creeping its way onto Twilight’s face—

The laptop interrupted her peace as it blared out a jingle, the screen flashing. Another video-call. With a start she made her way back to the device. All previous concerns had since left her mind; she wasn’t expecting another caller tonight but upon seeing who was trying to contact her she was all too happy to answer.

“Twilight? You there?” Richard Levine was clearly incredibly excited.

“I’m here,” she replied calmly, levelling herself once more. “How are you, Doctor?”

“What?” was the response. “Look, the connection here is godawful. You’ll have to bear with me!” She watched the low-resolution video image of Levine hit his own camera, making the screen flicker. “Okay. Try again.”

“Doctor Levine, I’m here,” she repeated.

“Ah, okay. Got that. Hello. I’m in Costa Rica.”

Twilight knew exactly what that meant. Her relentless studying and research from the past two weeks had taught her much, despite raising numerous more questions. She’d chased up almost everything she could find on the company Levine had previously spoke of – International Genetics, or as they were commonly known, InGen – and its connection with islands and dinosaurs. What she had found were primarily official accounts that told of the company leasing a sole island named Isla Nublar back in the mid 1980s from the Costa Rican government. Within ten years of the lease the company had filed for bankruptcy. From her research she’d discovered that InGen’s shares and profits had decreased rapidly after 1993 to almost nothing, but there was no official statement as to why.

With no official record of events in 1993, Twilight could only go based on rumour and word-of-mouth. She’d trawled libraries and the internet extensively, looking to find anything she could on the matter but the only results she’d uncovered were poorly thought-out conspiracy theories. They ranged wildly from Isla Nublar being nothing more than a base for a new division of the company, right up to the island containing horrid monsters – extreme and grotesque in form, these beasts were the next step in biogenetics but far too dangerous to be created on the mainland. 

In an almost unbelievable turn of events, the most likely theory about InGen’s collapse was what Levine had said. The idea of genetically engineering prehistoric animals seemed too far-fetched to be true in any other circumstance, but in this instance Twilight was forced to believe it more and more. It was the only theory she’d heard that seemed to have some consistency; Levine had said others in his academic circles spoke of it. Added to that was the fact that, apparently, five or so dinosaur remains had washed ashore in recent years.

And now, she found herself contacted by Levine directly, himself speaking from Costa Rica – the very location of the animal corpses. As her heart rate increased, Twilight drew a breath – she felt that she was about to be told something that would change the playing field.

“A carcass has washed up on a beach here. I can tell you straight away, and without any shadow of hesitation, that it is definitely a dinosaur. There are no photos. But we took a sample.” Levine glowed. “I was right. I was right! And Ian was wrong, of course. Twilight! We’re going to go and find dinosaurs!”

A small squeak of joy escaped from Twilight as her eyes lit up, before quickly reigning herself in. “Wow, Doctor Levine—”

“Richard.”

“Richard, that’s great news!” There was a pause, Twilight working out quite what to say next. “So... What happens now?”

“Okay, I’m heading back to Santa Fe later tonight. We’ll meet at the Institute Library around four-PM tomorrow, and then we can head to my flat. Should get there about five.” He took a moment to look over his shoulder. “I think I know where they are,” he said. He spoke in a near-whisper, now much closer to his own laptop’s screen. “I’ve pinpointed a chain of islands – Los Cincos Muertos, or the ‘Five Deaths’ – and one of them is looking to be our bag. I’ll explain more when I get back.”

“This is all so exciting!” Twilight exclaimed in response, a sudden thought hitting her from the side. “But – what about Dr Malcolm? He won’t—”

“Don’t worry about him,” Levine cut in. “I’ve sent him the sample we took. You see, I know how Ian works, how he thinks: firstly, he won’t believe me when I tell him it’s dinosaur flesh so he’ll send it off to a lab. Then, the lab rats will do all these tests and conclude they don’t know what it is, but they’ll likely tell him it’s like a lizard-bird hybrid. And then he’ll come and find me, and—“
Something seemed to grab his attention as he looked over his shoulder again. “I have to go,” he whispered. “I think I hear someone coming... I will see you tomorrow. And remember, not a word of this to anyone. Nobody.”

And that was that.

This new chain of developments left Twilight’s mind running overtime. It was all beginning to shape up. What had started as nothing more than Levine interrupting Malcolm’s lecture two weeks ago was quickly evolving into a scientific discovery on an unprecedented scale, something that Twilight found absolutely enthralling.

Despite all of this she still had her concerns, particularly after her conversation with Princess Celestia earlier. Seeing Levine tomorrow would certainly help, though – she intended to talk over every detail that she could possibly think of with him to avoid any unnecessary risks. And as soon as she knew everything, Twilight would contact the princess and inform her of the updated situation.

She let out a little sigh; the idea of running through things with Levine put her at ease. Feeling more relaxed she trotted into the small kitchen area, preparing a coffee.

As the kettle began to hiss, she sat down and mulled things over. Two weeks ago, she was attending a lecture on Earth’s prehistoric life. Now, simply being in the right place at the right time, she was being dragged into what could turn out to be a groundbreaking discovery for both human and ponykind. If the humans involved with Levine’s plans were lucky, Twilight thought herself even luckier.

Pouring her drink, she gave Levine’s call some more thought. A carcass had appeared on a beach in Costa Rica and he was adamant it belonged to a dinosaur. Despite not having seen it, she wanted to believe he was right and for the most part, she felt that she did. A small part of her still felt that she needed evidence – hopefully, the sample he took from the carcass would go some way to consolidating her belief. 

Twilight chuckled to herself. She was an intellectual pony, keen to support claims with evidence and believe in logic. And yet here she was, on a planet so far from her own, listening to the sentient species claiming to have found dinosaurs. It all seemed too unreal, too ridiculous. But for whatever reason, she believed it. Twilight figured that if travelling untold distances from realm to realm and establishing ties with a species as equally intelligent as ponies was possible, then finding examples of living prehistoric creatures was not something to be dismissed.

She took a drink of her coffee. Anything was possible... 

Twilight cast her thoughts to what Levine had said about where his Lost World could be found. Los Cincos Muertos – the Five Deaths. Initially she had thought Isla Nublar was the island they had been looking for, but her research had said nothing of the Five Deaths at all. Either Isla Nublar was one of these five islands, or InGen had in fact leased another island in total secrecy.
Downing her coffee, she was hit with a steely resolve: she would go, and she would research once more. Packing her laptop into her saddlebags she made her way out of the dormitory building and into the New Mexico evening, making the short walk to the Institute library. She was sure to find something on the Five Deaths in there.

She would uncover the truth, one way or another.