Of Dust and Gold

by Shroomkin

I. A New World

Author's Note:

Hello! Before you begin reading, you might be confused as to what you are about to read. This is a crossover with a game that I recently got addicted to (again). It's known as Dino Storm, a free to play game in the PC. Nostalgia hit me hard when my YouTube algorithm suddenly showed me a new trailer for it. And it got me good. Played it again, saw that they added new stuff, got addicted again.

Big oof to me. I could've just read a book or something, but no...

And now, the readers will have to suffer through this.

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, enjoy this 1 am thought of a crossover. I don't know if I will write more chapters for this, but expect that I'll write an ending for this.

A New World

The snow fell gracefully on the land, the winter ever merciful at the hands of the ponies at Ponyville. While there were no birds chirping, the hush winter breeze kept everypony calm. Routines were done normally, their markets overrun with patrons, the restaurants filled to the brim with cold and hungry customers; it was a normal day.

Within the town, a large oak can be found. Snow rests upon the mighty leaves of the oak. Inside the oak was a humble little library dubbed by the citizens as the Golden Oak Library. A fitting name, indeed. Inside the library stood 5 ponies and a tiny little dragon. They were waiting for their friend, who unbeknownst to all of them, brought forth a ton of books and her secret experiment.

"Twi, if this is one of 'em experiments like last time, Ah might have to bonk ya in the noggin'." Applejack, who at this point actively tried and escape the moment she hears "Twilight" and "Papers" together, said with a deadpan look. The other four ponies shuddered as they remembered being turned into frogs and cacti.

"I must say, Twilight, dear, perhaps this is NOT the best thing to do?" Rarity exclaimed, not wanting to be turned into a frog again. While it was a fun experience for Pinkie Pie, the moment she got turned into a cactus, it became a nightmare for most. She enjoyed it at first, until she realized that she cannot hug anypony nor hold a balloon without it popping.

"I dunno about that, silly filly! Being a cactus got me all pointy and sharpy." Rainbow Dash just stared, crossing her hooves together while Fluttershy simply read about the different flora, hoping not to earn the ire of the unicorn. Spike, the baby dragon, on the other hoof, decided to carry the "equipment" for Twilight as she was silently calculating the exact trajectory of her new experiment.

"Relax! It will be fine..." Twilight gulped, hoping it would. The goal was:

1. To know if teleportation can be used on a daily basis by the other ponies (and creatures).
2. To know how far a teleporter can teleport a pony.
3. To know the limits and fix those said limits.

In front of all of them, courtesy of Spike who brought it downstairs, was some sort of a stone slab with magic wires connected to a gem filled with magic. According to Twilight, the way it works is that once another one of these things are made, this teleporter can now teleport the pony onto the other platform. "Okay! I've run the calculations. It should be good now." She smiled sheepishly at her friends. "Ugh, I swear. You really are an egghead." Rainbow said as she rolled her eyes.

Twilight coughed as she explained what to do. Of course, everypony in the room already knows. However, a certain pink pony saw something new.

"Right, now that we are all inside the platform, all I need to do now is to activate it." She then glanced at the second platform, hoping that it would just simply move them all there.

"Ya sure this ain't turnin' us into another weird creature?" Applejack asked, silently praying that it wouldn't and that all would go well.

"Yes! I am 100% sure!" Twilight reassured, to which Rainbow chuckled at. "Pfft, the last time you said that, you were turned into a pickle." Not noticing that Pinkie was now looking at the buttons, the rest of them argued.

"Um, girls? Let's not fight, please?" Fluttershy tried her best to stop the argument, but it was to no avail as their bickering got louder and louder. However, they all stopped when Rarity saw what Pinkie Pie was doing.

"Oooh, what does this do?" Pinkie said as she flicked a lever, the magical current going through her. "PINKIE, NO!" They all said in unison. Realizing that the teleporter is now active without anypony placing their input, Twilight tried her best to stop the magic current. Unfortunately, it was too late as they were all plunged into what appears to be a spiral.

"Whee!" squealed Pinkie Pie as they are now travelling to Celestia knows where.

They then landed on the scorching hot sand. They yelped in pain, not just because of the sand, but because of the fall. When Rarity realized where she was, she inhaled. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

---

Somewhere, in a scorching desert, a few rhino-like animals grazed upon the cacti. They were calmly munching down on their meals, a few smaller ones were playing with each other. Just then, the alpha's ears flickered as loud thundering sounds can be heard. He grunted, alerting his herd from the danger, and they all bolted away from the sounds. Just then, something big came marching through alongside a rider.

"Y'all will never catch me alive!" The rider shouted as he shot back at the ones chasing him. Missing his marks, he looked in front and steered his mount to the left, hoping that the pursuers would lose him. They didn't.

They were rapidly getting closer. One of which was on his tail, almost quite literally. His pursuer was almost next to him, not even muttering a single word. And then he stopped. Why his pursuer stopped, he didn't care. He was so close to his exit. The other pursuers caught up to the lead and stopped as well. They stopped when their leader halted them. "HAHA! This will be the day ya almost caught Damien, 'The Tooth'!"

"Sir, he's escaping..." one of the men looked at his superior.

"I know," his superior said as he grabbed a rifle dubbed the Peacemaker by its inventors and aimed. "Two shots, guaranteed hits."

BANG! First shot. BANG! Second shot.

And with those two shots, Damien fell to the ground. His mount tumbled, roaring as it did. With a whistle, he commandeered his mount to walk towards the now struggling Damien. "Well, almost, at least." He mocked.

"Curse ya... Jedidiah," Damien said as he passed out. With a tip of his hat, Jedidiah dismounted and checked on the fallen dinosaur. It was alright, just a bit paralyzed due to the shot. He quickly ordered his men to capture him and the dinosaur. Jedidiah then took out a cigar from his pocket and lit it. "Tsk, bandits everywhere... Never learning their lesson. Lanson, make sure this one doesn't escape." He glanced at his deputy, the poor young man, tired and beaten as all of his shots missed. "Pull yourself together and go grab a drink back at Dinoville."

As his men were about to leave, he called out to them. "Make sure that the Para's taken care of." He exhaled a puff of smoke as the deputy left. He stayed there for a while, finding himself a rock to sit on. Just then, a nudge can be felt from his left arm. It was his Coelophysis. "You did good, Sky Chaser. You did good." He patted his snout, making the Coelophysis coo affectionately. This put a smile on his face.

Suddenly, a bright light can be seen at the horizon close to Jedediah. It was a captivating sight, but not something normal to occur. "Well, can't get enough peace around here, huh?" he said with a sense of danger as Jedidiah mounted his Coelo and rushed towards the light.

---

"Calm down, Rarity!" Applejack said, trying to hold her back from whatever it is she's trying to do.

"Calm down? Ah yes, yes. I am perfectly calm... NOT!" Rarity, again, tried to lash out, only to be stopped by Applejack.

"I'm... sorry..." Deflated, the once happy-go-lucky party central quietly sat next to a rock. Twilight, at the brink of anger, was about to say something but held it in, knowing full well that her friend has already gone through enough. "ENOUGH!" she howled, annoyed by the constant rambling of Rarity, the restlessness of everypony, and the failure of her experiment. She sighed as she glanced towards everypony. "Let's all just try and find a place to stay." She said, tired and dehydrated after a few minutes of walking.

Unbeknownst to all of them, they were being followed by the watchful eyes of bandits.

Tired and wanting to take a nap, the group rested in a nearby cave. Not even the proud pegasus can beat this insane heat. This made it even harder for her to scout for water. With no cloud in the sky to even manipulate, it seems all is lost. Night approached them, yet not a single one of them managed to sleep. They were hungry, they were tired, and most importantly, they were dehydrated. It was cold, surprisingly cold. If not for their fur, they would surely suffer the dreaded cold night. It is rare for ponies to suffer from hypothermia thanks to their magic, but this place just seems so unnatural to them.

"Twilight... I want to go home..." Spike said, tired from walking. Immediately after making camp on the cave, he collapsed, worrying all of the ponies.

"Don't worry Spike, we'll get us all home," Twilight said as she rubbed his head.

Dawn came for all of them at the sound of metallic clanks. It was a weird experience, but given that they didn't sleep, they thought nothing of it. Just then, a few clicks can be heard alongside thuds. Looking around, they saw two large ostrich-like animals. Had this been a normal situation, Fluttershy would have squealed in joy as she saw these new creatures. However, she was too weak and too tired to even get up.

What surprised her the most though was that she can't seem to understand what the ostrich things were saying.

"Uh, girls, what are those?" Applejack said, pointing at the two figures on the backs of the bird-like creatures. This made everypony look. Perhaps they were illusions. Another click and a beam shot out from the rifle, barely missing its mark. This did not register to them as they were too tired to even realize that they were in danger. As they glanced where the shot found its mark, they were horrified to see the scorched earth; the rock melting a bit due to the heat of whatever had shot them.

It was only when the bird-like beasts roared that they decided to run. The ponies were fast, but they were faster. With a few leaps from the Coelos, they immediately surrounded the group of ponies and the baby dragon.

"Look at what we got here... These here are strange entelodons." The ponies tried to fight, but the Coelophysis were terrifying. They had sharp teeth and even sharper claws. One swipe was all it took to knockout Applejack. This terrified Fluttershy so much that she fainted. "Well, they're feisty, that's for sure." The bandits then tied their bounty, trying to decide what to do with them.

"We could sell 'em to Dr. Gizmos. Problem is, we can't enter Dinoville, lest we encounter that sheriff again..." The bandit said, not wanting to pick an unnecessary fight.

"Perhaps we could just skin them? Their pelts do seem soft. We can also take the baby... uhh... what do you think it is?" The other bandit spoke.

"Please... have mercy..." Rarity spoke, tears in her eyes as she began to cry. The bandits, both shocked and intrigued, looked at the ponies. "Heh, they can talk. Alright, we'll let ya go." He then looked at the ponies.

"But first, I want to see you dance." The bandit unmounted his Coelo and pulled out a knife. He placed the knife on the crying mare's neck and ordered her to dance. "Go on, dance you weird entelodon! Shouldn't be too hard for ya!" he mocked as Rarity wept silently.

"Hey, you get your mangy paws of her, creep!" Rainbow said, flaring her wings as she tried to dash forward, only for the Coelo to snap at her, eliciting a yelp from the rainbow-maned pegasus.

"Check it, Dutch," one of them called out. "These here critters have wings? Ya think they can be sold to them Aviary fellows in Mokon Woods?"

The man chuckled. "Heh, we'll earn a fortune with the travelling circus if we sold these here freaks to them."

Twilight was having none of it as she decided to charge her horn, only for something to break the atmosphere around them.

BANG!

Suddenly, the bandit who was still on his mount fell unconscious. It was at this moment that the sheriff came along. The bandit, who tried to make the poor unicorn dance and do other party tricks, struggled to get to his mount. He was then shot before he even had the chance to grab his gun. Not wanting it to end like this, he whistled and ordered both mounts to attack the lone sheriff, allowing time to at least retreat. Unfortunately for him, though, the sheriff shot another round at his leg, incapacitating him and even knocking him out. The other two Coelos were rapidly approaching. As such, he got off Sky Chaser and proceeded to equip his standard revolver.

Witnessing both sheriff and beast fight together was all it took for Rainbow Dash to partially regain her energy. She cheered the lone sheriff on, eventually catching him off guard. "TAKE THEM DOWN!"

And with the last swipe from Sky Chaser, the bandit Coelos fell to the ground. "Atta boy, Chaser. Atta boy." He grunted as he stood up. He then went towards the equines, untying the rest. "Y'all alright?" He spoke in a hushed tone, making sure not to scare them away. Twilight, ever so grateful, decided to hug the man along with her friends. Confused by this notion, he simply patted the now crying lavender unicorn. "Uh, yeah, uh, let it all out..."

She sniffed. "Thank you..."

"I get that you were in quite a dilemma but you shouldn't cry. There's no water out here for miles." It was then that a yellow pegasus sneezed as she regained consciousness. She glanced at the tall figure and immediately cowered and hid in her mane, as if she can't be seen by the naked eye.

"It's okay, Fluttershy, he's cool." Rainbow said, albeit tiredly. To further prove the point that he is "cool", he simply gave them a jug full of water from one of the stashes in the saddle. This got everypony, and even dragon, to thank the being even more.

He thought he had seen it all... He was wrong. "I might have to lay off the whiskey a bit," he mumbled as he watched the weird equines, and a weird dino, chat with each other.

"So, y'all from another world?" This made Twilight look at the being as he petted Sky Chaser. "Uhm... yes..." He nodded. "Thought as much. Y'all don't seem to belong here. Last I checked, ponies don't talk."

This annoyed Twilight and the rest. "We do talk, you know? We're talking right now." Rainbow said with a bemused face. The being chuckled. "Yes, yes. It's why I said that y'all are from another world."

The man then tied up the bandits and the unconscious Coelos as he rode Sky Chaser. "Wait, where are you going? You can't leave us here!" Rarity said, almost clinging to the being's leg. The rest pleaded as well. Even a newly awoken Applejack pleaded, albeit a bit confused as to why. "Relax, there is no way Sky Chaser can carry y'all in one go." He then glanced at a curious Fluttershy who looked like she was about to start asking questions. "I'll have to bring in Thorn Charge to help with that."

"But, how will you even come back here? It's a long way to go!" Twilight said as the being reached for the saddle bags.

"With this, the Teleport Matrix," he said as he showed Twilight the small, rectangular object. "I'll just mark this place on my map and I can easily find you... so long as you stay in place." Twilight wanted to ask more, but then he vanished before she could even talk.

"Well... this is a weird place." Pinkie said, looking at everypony. Everypony had a deadpan stare.

"What?"