Raptania: Of Raptors and Ponies

by PrimevalBrony

Chapter 3: Maniraptora

Carnithimus’ lecture about Raptania and all its culture seemed to drag on and on. Rainbow Dash had almost fallen asleep, Pinkie Pie had gone off to entertain herself with the balloons from Party Favor and the others just kept listening to the Pelicanimimus blather on.

Fluttershy was the first one to speak up.

"So how varied are the maniraptors there?" she asked softly.

"Oh very varied. They’re the slender, quick ornithomimosaurs like myself," Carnithimus began. "There's the enormous and powerful deinocheirids, the tiny and stumpy-armed alvarezsaurs, the all-purpose oviraptorosaurs, the dragon-like scansoriopterygids, the huge plant-eating therizinosaurs, the messenger birds, the weather controlling 'primitive' dromaeosaurs then are the true dromaeosaurs and the troodontids. They are the lords and rulers"

"Wow" Twilight said. "Will we be meeting all the hold lords?"

"Well no." Carnithimus quickly replied. "The troodontids have refused to be a part of this. Lord Forsuthion is an extreme supremacist. He wants nothing to do with Equestria."

"So what hold does he rule?" Rarity asked.

"Mottisfort." Carnithimus replied. "Arguably the smallest hold. And there are 2 capitals to it; Kinaree and Martha. Martha is the one Lord Forsuthion has declared the true capital of Mottisfort. He calls Mottisfort the Bastard Hold. The smallest hold, made from a simple bonding of a few towns, no treaty needed."

Carnithimus looked up and smiled. "We're here" he gasped.

The ponies looked up as well, including Rainbow Dash, who had only woken up because Applejack kicked her in the shin. They all were amazed. They saw an incredible city, filled with sandstone houses ranging in size from a Ponyville house to the Town Hall. And along the river bank, they could see the residents of Raptania. There were small Parvicursors, which had very short arms which ended in a large claw. They had a long feathered tail, long thin scaly legs, and small birdlike heads with tiny teeth in the jaws. Adorning their heads was a pair of long feathers, which is their equivalent to a unicorn’s horn as some were using the feathers to levitate green fruits. There were fishermen Conchoraptor with short stout heads with a small crest, long arms, a fan of feathers at the end of their tails and short yet powerful legs. And most impressive of all, there was a gargantuan Deinocheirus. He looked so strange compared to the other residents, as he dwarfed all of them, had arms as long as a pony and had a massive hump on his back. But his head was the strangest part, a thin yet wide upper jaw with small eyes near the back of his head, and a deep and wide lower jaw, the mouth was a toothless beak. The ferry docked and the ponies, Spike and Carnithimus stepped off.

Rarity was the first to spot more than a few cultural differences. The shops were not simple stalls but rather large buildings with interiors that went on for miles. There was a massive theatre nearby. There was a street filled with raptor reporters called Down Street, the supposed home of a very important character in politics but in actuality does nothing helpful and instead makes the citizens pissed. The clothing that the dinosaurs wore was also tighter and more formal than the clothes that the ponies wore.

Applejack saw some tall leafy trees in the distance that were new to her and the others.

"What are those?" she asked.

"Those are gingko trees." Carnithimus said, "Their fruit is the main produce of Raptania."

"Can I go and see?" Applejack asked. She wanted to see how different Raptanian farming was to Equestrian farming.

"Not yet." Carnithimus replied, "We must go and see the king. And his children Prince Cabazi, Princess Buitre and Prince Quinn"

"THERE’RE TWO PRINCES?" Rarity asked excitedly. She immediately prettied her hair up with her porcelain manebrush.

"Yes." Carnithimus replied, "But they're not really interested in getting married as of yet."

Rarity huffed at this, and Twilight chuckled as the group walked towards the castle.

It was enormous, almost twice as large as Twilight's own, and was white as snow. A peaceful stream ran through the centre of the castle, and meadows surrounded it like a leafy fence. At the gate, there stood 2 guards, one of which was a tall, slender, blue Ornithomimus, and the other was a stocky, short, green Nomingia. They opened the doors and the ponies saw the interior of the castle. It was just as beautiful as it was on the outside. Clean tiled floors, long flowing red drapes and windows so clear you could see your own reflection. Up ahead stood the copper throne that was wide that allowed the ruler's tail to be on the throne, and seemed to be made from raptor claws. On the throne there sat an elderly grey Unenlagia. King Unen. He sat up and Carnithimus bowed, followed quickly thereafter by Twilight and her friends. King Unen let them rise and smiled.

"I see my dignitaries from Equestria are unharmed?" he said with a warm but meek smile.

"Yes, Your Grace." Carnithimus replied, "May I introduce to you, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike."

"It's an honour to meet you, Your Grace" Twilight bowed again

"Now now, there's no need for such honour." King Unen replied, "After all, it won't be long before Cabazi becomes First of his name"

"What does that mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"It means that he will become king." King Unen replied, then he ordered a Parvicursor servant to fetch Cabazi, Buitre and Quinn. As he did so, a hazel Utahraptor walked up to him with a document.

"Here is the treaty like you asked for, Your Grace." he said, then he looked at Twilight and she looked back.

"This is my Hand, Ostrom" King Unen introduced, "He runs the library here."

"I'm....." Twilight began, but Ostrom interrupted her.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. I know. I know all about you and your fiends' endeavours. You're practically a legend" he said kindly.

"Wow. I-I didn't know I was a legend here." Twilight said as she began to blush. As this was going on, King Unen walked to a table as a large black Austroraptor, a slender pink Buitreraptor and a mid-sized Neuquenraptor walked downstairs.

"Yeah Dad?" the Neuquenraptor said.

"Quinn, I'd like you to meet the dignitaries from Equestria." King Unen replied. Quinn looked at the girls and smirked.

"They seem nice, don't you think Cabazi?" he said as he ribbed the Austroraptor.

"Hm? Yeah, they are really nice." Cabazi replied as he scanned the ponies with his eyes. To him, they all seemed beautiful in their own rights. Fluttershy blushed lightly at this.

"Good on you two." King Unen said. "Now then, I've heard that this treaty business takes about 3 days. The first is to get you acquainted with the kingdom, the second is the meeting of the lords, and the third is the actual signing."

"Will my father be there?" Ostrom asked the elderly king.

"Yes Ostrom. Lord Achilles will be there, as will your brothers Drom and Zapsal." King Unen replied.

"So we should get exploring the city." Rainbow Dash said in as kind of a tone she could possibly manage.

"Of course." Carnithimus said. "I'll join you guys. I'll also make sure a guard goes with. Can't let any troodontid spies get you."

"Then let's go." Applejack said happily. She couldn't wait to see the ginkgo farms.

The ponies and Carnithimus left the throne room and then set off to explore the magnificent new city that lay ahead....