• Published 5th Oct 2015
  • 296 Views, 0 Comments

Dawn of the Dinosaur - Jongoji245



Wanting to find his origins once and for all, Cosgrove joins an expedition.

  • ...
 0
 296

Chapter 3 (Old Timeline): Reunion

While not the largest of fliers, it is fascinating that the Jub Jub Birds up close. The small ones can be feisty; one of our crew was just mobbed by them. I do recall one of the camera ponies filming me as I sat next to a large Jub Jub Bird. The bird didn’t mind our presence at all.

There are true birds on the island, but they aren’t the kind Fluttershy would be with… I can be wrong...

Three Days until School

Throughout the rest of the past day, Applejack lain unconscious on a shoreline. It was with a tug and tear of part of her mane that she finally awoke. She found herself looking stern at a spiky reptile. The little beast hobbled away as the pony got up, picked up her hat and placed it on. She then looked around her surroundings.

"Am ah dead?" She wondered

Inside the ice wall was a fertile paradise. There were waterfalls, large forests and grassy plains. In the far distance was smoke from a volcano. Grazing upon the foliage were large reptiles, not dragons, but something else. Further up the canopy were long necked, large bodied beasts craning their necks up and down to collect a morsel. The skies echoed with the calls of large flying reptiles as they soared above the clouds.

Suddenly from behind Applejack, a roar rang her ear. The farm pony turned around and saw a purple bipedal reptile lunging back and forth along the river bank. The spiny reptiles she saw before huddled around to provide an impenetrable fortress. Backing away, the carnivore turned its attention to the pony.

"Aw road apples..." Applejack began walking away slowly.

As soon as the beast positioned itself, Applejack turned tail and ran. Usually against animals that size, a pony would usually outrun it. The problem is that Applejack is still recovering from being flushed into this new world. The animal soon was a few yards from the pony. But Applejack had one trick up her hooves. As soon as she felt the carnivore's breath, the farm pony darted left towards the forest. The animal skidded on the mud, tried to turn around, but fell on its side into shallow water. In anguish it roared at the sky.

Applejack raced into a dark part the forest. Rays of light pierced through the thickets, illuminating the orange mare's outline. She stopped by a rock to rest.

"My stars. This is more dangerous than findin' a needle in a haystack."

She looked ahead and spotted an elephant in the room, or here a wilderness. The pony trotted forth to a rugged saddlebag. Scraping the dirt off she found the logo of the Barn and Bailey Circus. Cosgrove is indeed here, but Applejack began to doubt him being alive. One of the main compartments is missing, and she dared not think what creature did it.

Applejack flicked her ears at some shuffling noises. Looking behind, she saw another creature, this time different from the one she encountered; Much smaller, around her size, with a large set of eyes facing forward, and it's body was covered in white feathers. In its claws was the missing part of the bag. It shuffled its snout into the bag as another animal nipped at its head, trying to snatched the bag away. The one holding the bag kicked its opponent before being nipped at its neck. Faced with no choice, the captured individual dropped the bag.

The bag fell on the leaf covered ground. Applejack crept up to the bag and grabbed it with her teeth. But as she turned around, she bumped her snout on another animal. Its bright blue eyes were dead focused on the earth pony. Applejack began to eye the bag's contents; inside was what appeared to be a journal. The animal began to growl as a transparent eyelid wrapped around its eyes. Applejack, while looking down, noticed that two of its toes curled upwards.

Applejack caught the birdlike reptile off guard by flinging the bag at it. As soon as it shuffled the bag away, it got an order of apple bucking. The forest echoed with a shriek as the animal "flew" across and slammed to a tree. Applejack gave a decent smirk before noticing the two others stalking her. She began backing away slowly, grabbing the journal in one hoof. Turning to the sound of rustling leaves, Applejack dodged the lunge of the animal she kicked.

The farm pony raced through the dark forest with the pack chasing behind her. Though they lack four legs, they were just as fast. Applejack winced in pain as they kept taking nips off her mane and fur, but still she moved as great as her legs took her. After making it to the large clearing, one was able to get close enough to the mare to aim its bite at her neck. Applejack prepared for the worse.

Or so she thought when she only felt the cool breeze. She looked behind her as the three animals were running the other way. She stopped in her tracks, took off her hat and scraped her head. Just as she looked forward, Applejack was bumped by a large stallion.

After she collapsed on the ground, the stallion yelled at her in a unknown language as he stepped over the orange mare. Applejack laid there looking at the stallion, noticing that it had features like Cosgrove. A beaked bipedal reptile of his size also yelled at her. When she got up and turned around, she became surrounded by multitudes of ponies, each mare and stallion with their own pattern of color. They were also joined by other beaked reptiles as they traveled to whatever destination. Even foals around Pound and Pumpkin Cakes size walked on foot. Towards the back end, the herd began to thin out.

She turned and found Ms. Mareven walking with an injured camera pony next to her, filming the experience. Just as the zoologist opened her happy mouth...

"You have a lot to talk about missy!" Said an angry Applejack.

Michelle closed her mouth and continued walking, not minding the scowl on Applejack's face.

"Walking backwards?" Applejack turned around and found Cosgrove, walking with a beaked animal of the same size. "Well let me know if it gets you there any faster."

The farm pony gave him a very deep hug. Looking at his face, Applejack noticed the bags on his eyes; a testament to the dangerous environment.

"What happened?"

Just as Cosgrove opened his mouth a cackle is heard in the distance. The three individuals turn around and found the same three bird reptiles Applejack ran from.

"I'll tell you away from the Borogoves. Run!"

Applejack flung the colt onto her back before galloping to the herd. The so called Borogoves, outwitted again, gave an irritated snarl.

Size doesn’t mean everything. The Borogoves do give quite a scare. My advice to any future visitors: stay away from the forest and keep away from large fire flies.

2 Days Until School.

As they continued their long walk, Cosgrove explained how this mess started. They first entered the region in an alcove that is now blocked by the cargo ship. There were many casualties to the landing party of twelve; three were killed by a pack of laelaps, five in a stampede, and one by the Borogoves. When Applejack asked about the animal that attacked her when she first arrived, his response,

"Shun the frumious bandersnatch."

Cosgrove then introduced his long lost mud brother, Dapplewood, a Hipsi. From what he gathered in his time here, each one of his kind, upon birth, coincides with the hatching of a Hipsi. From this point, a Hipparion and a Hipsi work as an extension of each other, the former can build a house while the latter can stand alert despite not being able to talk. Despite all those years apart, Dapplewood was able to recognize Cosgrove through a particular scent shared only by each pair.

The direction the herd is going corresponds to an event known merely as The Gathering. Centuries ago, the Hipparion once lived in a large city, but times of civil war have driven themselves out of the city. Overtime, their feuds began to end, and though still travel in separate herds, travel to their ancestral city and record their history. Cosgrove felt that going to the city, he could finally call for Princess Luna with a deserved rest.

Further behind from the herd, a pair of laelaps were fighting over a carcass of one of the ponies. The larger one was able to rip most of the carcass away, leaving the smaller one with only the tail. The victorious laelaps dropped its prize and began to roar when it was smacked to the ground by the even larger bandersnatch. The dark violet animal roared its competition away before wolfing down the corpse. It noticed the tracks of the herd and continued following an unknown scent from the pony it encountered a while back.

While the sun still shined in the North, the hour was when it would begin to set elsewhere. Applejack began to notice her little friend having his head low with an occasional shaking to remove the sleep from his mind. Upon hearing a distant bray, Applejack looked forward and found that the herd is walking towards an ancient city.

They made it.

Applejack stopped the tired foal, who looked up at her with red eyes. With a gentle smile, the two ponies laid down on the ground to rest followed by Dapplewood. Michelle looked at them with concerned faces.

"I think it would safer further down the-"

"We rest here." Said an angry Applejack.

The zoologist furrowed her eyebrow as her camera stallion flopped on the ground, a great sigh of relief coming from his mouth. The made then laid down on the ground and closed her eyes, though her head was still raised to be alert.

Meanwhile much further south, Princess Luna appeared in the hall of dreams and walked to Cosgrove's dreamscape. It was much different from the last time she visited. It was now much more lush while retaining aspects of his circus life and his current home. The animals and inhabitants of the Unfrozen North now roam the dream, though groups of Brobdingnags do feast on the higher trees except the one that resembled Schnookums.

Among the crowd of dreamscape Hipparion, Cosgrove stepped forward to the Princess of the Night.

"Have thou been hurt?"

"Tired, and shaken," Cosgrove raised his head up "How are my grandparents?"

Upon request, Princess Luna took the colt to a vision of a possible future. The two middle aged ponies stood at the reception booth at the Ponyville Express. Cosgrove stepped forward only to be stopped by the Alicorn's wing.

"Three..." - a tear began to stream down Lion Tamer's face - "No... Two one way train tickets... Please..."

Though a vision, Cosgrove was shocked by this news. He drooped his head before the wing blocking him wrapped around to comfort the Hipparion.

"Your Highness... Am I... Just a pony of bad luck?"

The much taller pony looked at him as the vision gradually faded to his dreamscape.

"I have caused so much destruction to Ponyville, I have lost Schnookums and even..." Cosgrove began to tear up as a hoof lifted his chin.

"Thou are not a pony of bad luck, but just very young. You have much in the way to learn." - Luna straightened herself before presenting him a chamber of his recent memories - "On another hoof, you have brought awareness to an unknown species, befriended a chaos spirit, gave a good performance, helped you're friends after Tirek's destruction, ended a centuries long conflict, and now..."

Princess Luna and Cosgrove looked as a golden medal floated between them.

"You found your own people."

Cosgrove held onto the medal as Luna ascended to the light.

"I shall await your arrival at the city."