There is something missing from our world; the amazing animals that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?
We're going back in time on a safari with a difference as animal enthusiast Fluttershy plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. Her plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
On her very first mission, she hopes to rescue one of the last of the dinosaurs from the most dramatic extinction ever.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.
The sun rises over a vast, beautiful land as a Land-rover drives towards buildings with thatched roofs. All around, staff are moving urgently as today will be the day everything changes.
It's a big day at Prehistoric Park. Throughout this huge reserve, everyone is preparing for the first arrivals.
A large construction crew carefully runs wires through rows of large, 15-foot-tall metal poles sticking out of the ground. Thick layers of concrete and metal supports already connect the poles, but these wires will add reinforcement and channel an electric grid to ensure that whatever will live behind this fence cannot get out.
"Come on, y’all, quick as you like." Prehistoric Park's head keeper, Applejack, calls out. Applejack is overseeing the paddock's construction, as she has done with previous paddocks, and she will continue to do so in the future as more species are brought in. While the constructions of the previous enclosures were done quickly and without issue, Applejack is nervous about this one, primarily due to its planned occupant. As such, she's pushing the crew hard to ensure this one is sturdy and secure.
"Can you get those wires through that pole at the bottom of the paddock?" she asks a group of crew members as she walks around inspecting the fence in a Southern accent.
They're almost finished building the enclosures for everything from giant insects to dinosaurs.
"Remember, check everything! This is home to a dangerous creature!"
Driving through the reserve is animal enthusiast and Prehistoric Park's founder, Fluttershy. She is the most excited and anxious of everyone. Fluttershy has dreamed of bringing extinct animals back to the present day, and today, that dream will become a reality.
If Fluttershy can make extinct animals feel at home anywhere, it's here.
After reaching her destination, an elevated overlook of the land, Fluttershy pulls out a map showcasing the entire park.
"The natural geography will help us contain the animals. There's an ocean to the south, and to the north, there's a mountain range. Everything I need in terms of habitats: there's savannah and deserts, there's forests and lakes, there's rivers, there's even a waterfall and artificial snowfields. Perfect environments for keeping prehistoric animals."
All they need now are the prehistoric creatures themselves.
Fluttershy is now walking through the Canterlot Natural History Museum, gazing and admiring its collection of fossils. The fossilized skeletons offer a vast variety of potential species for Fluttershy to bring back, some of which she has already selected. Fluttershy plans to select more species, but for now, she wants to start small, relatively speaking.
One day, Fluttershy plans to breed extinct animals in captivity. But her first step is to only bring a few of each species back, to see how they get on in the 21st Century.
While it's easy to assume that any extinct animal would do well in the present day, Fluttershy also knows that assumption is quite reckless. Some animals will require specific requirements to care for them. While she does have the species planned out, she'll only bring in a few individuals to see how they handle the modern world. If all goes well, she plans to collect more individuals to bring back to the park.
As she moves through the museum, she stops at a couple of displays, one with the skull of a large horned dinosaur and the other with the skeleton of a swift dinosaur about half her height.
However, Fluttershy eventually finds what she's looking for: a massive skeleton of the world's most famous dinosaur species. This is the one that Fluttershy would say anyone would be foolish not to bring back from extinction- the largest and most powerful terrestrial predator ever to live.
And Fluttershy knows exactly what he wants to start with- the meanest and scariest of them all, Tyrannosaurus rex!
Back at Prehistoric Park, Fluttershy is now in her office. She has been packing her supplies and equipment for the mission ahead. After finishing, Fluttershy pulls a map and places it on the wall.
Finding a T-rex is more challenging than simply traveling back in time. Luckily, Fluttershy’s already worked out when and where she'll have to go to track one down.
“The most widely accepted theory about why dinosaurs became extinct is that a meteor smashed into the Earth," Fluttershy says, pointing to the map before her. “This is a map of the Earth 66 million years ago. This is where the impact was, in the Yucatán Peninsula, here in Mexico. You can still see the crater today. Around that time, there were masses of T. rex here, somewhere in Montana, and I need to go back there to find them."
With that, Fluttershy places her things in his Land Rover. She then proceeds toward the holding facility, which will hold the animals she brings back and where the time portal is situated.
To rescue the last of the T. rex, Fluttershy is going back to the very end of the age of dinosaurs, as close to the meteor impact as she dares.
Fluttershy drives through the portal, ready to bring back the most powerful land predator ever and facing a ticking clock to one of Earth's most devastating extinction events. Let's hope she hasn't bitten off more than she can chew.
Bird and insect calls echo throughout the lush environment of late Cretaceous Montana. Trees, ferns, and bushes sway in the breeze blowing along the forest's edge. However, the calm and gentle sounds of prehistoric nature are interrupted by the engine of Fluttershy’s Land Rover. As she drives, Fluttershy can't help but take in the awe and wonder of this ancient world.
66 million years ago, Montana looked very different from the semiarid Great Plains state. Despite the lush environment, this is a world before grass, which won't appear for another ten million years. Here, T. rex is king. Now, all Fluttershy needs to do is find one.
Fluttershy eventually reaches her destination, a campsite being set up by a large team. They had arrived before Fluttershy to ensure everything was safe before beginning the mission. So far, the team has not encountered or seen any of the local wildlife Despite being there to collect prehistoric species, it's a good thing that they haven't. None of the animals have seen humans before and never encountered primates since they won't appear for another ten million years. As a result, some might become curious, which could endanger the team. While dinosaurs aren't monsters, herbivores could view them as threats and predators could view them as prey. However, the wildlife here is the least of their worries.
In a place with so many potential dangers, Fluttershy and her team know the sooner they accomplish their mission, thebetter.
Fluttershy parks the Land Rover at the campsite and quickly looks over it being set up.
"I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew; we've got so little time."
Fluttershy is right. Some of the team brought telescopes and spotted the meteor. Based on their assumptions, they have about four days until it hits. The team is scrambling to get everything set up as quickly as possible, but Fluttershy doesn't plan to wait for them to finish.
"There's a wonderful forest over there, perfect habitat, and I think that's where we'll begin our search for T. rex."
It's been a few hours since Fluttershy began trekking through the forest. Unfortunately, she has not found any dinosaurs or other signs of wildlife. To some degree, it's a relief to Fluttershy. However, traveling through a late Cretaceous forest likely dominated by a T. rex or two is unsettling.
T. Rex is a monster. At a staggering 45 feet long and 10 tons, some would think it shouldn't be too hard to track one down.
"Tyrannosaurus rex was the apex predator of this time. The adults were so large and bulky that they could only run up to 10 miles per hour, though some speculate they could top out at 17 miles per hour. Therefore, they likely relied on ambush tactics when hunting, which wouldn't have been difficult for them since fossilized tracks of T. rex showed evidence that their feet were padded. Thick pads on the bottom of their feet allowed T. rex to move silently, even when they weren't actively trying to. Modern animals like elephants and tigers have these on the bottom of their feet, and you rarely hear them when they walk. Far different from the ground-shaking, bellowing monster you've seen in the movies. What I'm most concerned about is the juveniles. They fill out a niche of their own compared to the adults. They are significantly faster, speculated to approach speeds of about 30 miles per hour. Not even Usain Bolt could outrun that. Juveniles would have specialized in smaller and faster prey while the adults preyed on the large and armored ones. And I would make more of a meal for a juvenile than an adult. But despite that, I would be thrilled if we find a T. rex, regardless of if it's a juvenile or an adult."
What she'll do when she does find one is not exactly clear.
Fluttershy continues through the forest. She can hear birds and possibly pterosaurs and dinosaurs in the distance. She reaches a small creek and crosses it by walking across a fallen log.
T. rex are not the only creatures around.
Fluttershy spots something up ahead and darts toward it. She sees the vegetation in the spot was disturbed.
"This must be a trackway. And look - you can see here these leaves have been nibbled, these twigs have been snapped off, there's been a vegetarian browsing here. And here - the first evidence of dinosaurs. Hard to see, but you can see this footprint here. Three toes. This is the classic theropod dinosaur - the same family the T. rex is in. They stand on two legs; they're bipedal. It looks like there's a whole group of them here, not as big as T. rex, of course, and vegetarians, you can tell by the leaves that they've eaten. And they've gone this way. This is a big trackway; there must be quite a few of them."
As she investigates, she sees the footprints heading into the dense underbrush nearby.
"And they've gone down this way."
Her hunch is right.
As Fluttershy approaches the brush, she sees the branches and leaves shaking. But it's too rapid and random to be the wind.
"That bush is rustling. And this is what normally happens when you're searching for large animals- you hear them before you see them, hidden scurrying away through the bushes. They're still moving around there. These could be our first dinosaurs." Fluttershy whispers. She grabs her binoculars, hoping to get a closer look at whatever is running around, hidden in the bushes. However, just as she is about to look through them, she hears a squawking sound from her right. She quickly looks over and sees something walking out of the bush towards her. Its appearance reminded her of an emu as it was similar in height and covered in feathers like one with similar coloration. However, this one had pronounced blue feathering along the throat, resembling a cassowary, and a small crest of feathers on top of its head; its arms, which had white feathers at the edge, had three digits with small claws at the end and a long tail.
"You see that?" Fluttershy asks as the dinosaur makes another, more muted squawk. "Ornithomimus velox, I've seen the fossils in museums. Ornithomimus velox means swift or rapid bird mimic, and you can see why exactly like ratites such as ostriches, emus, rheas, and cassowaries. See how close we can get." She takes one step closer, and the ornithomimus lets out a hiss as it spreads its wings, making itself appear bigger and more dangerous. Fluttershy retreats behind a tree to not make the animal any more uncomfortable. "Woah, that hiss felt like it went right through me. That was a warning. And look." The heads of other ornithomimus began popping out from the bushes. "All of the others, all of them, are up; he must have been the sentry. Their heads are looking at us, heads popping up all over the place." The emu-sized theropods were staring at her, wondering what she was but also out of caution. "They're mostly herbivorous, but they won't turn their noses on insects, crustaceans, or small animals. They're completely the opposite of what you'd imagine a dinosaur to be like. This is terrific, our first dinosaurs."
Though still wary of Fluttershy, the ornithomimus had calmed down enough to start foraging on the plants around them. Fluttershy watches in awe and admiration at these magnificent animals.
"Look, look. You can see differences between some individuals in the flock. The ones with the blue feathered necks and white-tipped wings, like the one that hissed at us, are likely the males, while the rest with all brown coloration are likely the females. In many modern birds, including ratites like ostriches, the males have colorful feathers, while the females have more dull colors. This is likely to help attract potential mates and ward off rivals. It's amazing to see sexual dimorphism in dinosaurs."
Sadly, these Ornithomimus will soon be extinct too, unless, of course, Fluttershy can save one.
"I'd love a breeding flock of Ornithomimus at Prehistoric Park," Fluttershy says as she sits down and removes her boot and sock. "But we need a technique for catching them. And I think this will work; I've done it with ostriches. And what you do is slip a sock over their head. As soon as you cover their eyes, they calm down." Fluttershy explains before putting her boot back on and standing up. “The only troubles what I've got is these things can run up to 45 miles per hour, and if they're anything like ratites, they've got to have a powerful kick, and the claws on their feet could likely disembowel someone like me. Ostriches have been known to kill lions, and cassowaries are considered the most dangerous birds in modern times because of how powerful their kicks and sharp claws are. However, unlike ratites, these things have claws on their wings. There are so many in this flock, though, and they don't know what to make of me, but if I get in the midst of them, there'll be commotion, and hopefully, I can grab hold of one of them without being kicked or clawed at."
Fluttershy slowly walks toward the flock of Ornithomimus. Some stare at her, but most continue feeding. However, as she reaches her striking range, all of them are now staring at her, wondering what she is and what she'll do. Fluttershy freezes and looks at the flock, carefully scanning to select her target. She quickly finds one, a female who happens to be the one closest to her. With her sock in hand, Fluttershy lunges. The Ornithomimus, startled by this strange creature lunging at them, panicked and ran. The female she is targeting gets slowed down by several other Ornithomimus getting in her way, allowing Fluttershy to grab her. Once she has a hold of her, she attempts to get her sock over the ostrich dinosaur’s head while the rest of the flock scurry off into the brush. Fluttershy struggles to get the sock on, but the female Ornithomimus makes it very difficult. However, as she struggles to get the sock on, something in the distance has sensed the commotion. Just as Fluttershy is about to get the sock over the Ornithomimus' head, the flock returns. However, instead of engaging with Fluttershy, they run right past her. Feeling that something isn't right, Fluttershy lets the female go, and she joins them.
Now there's something else to contend with. Something much, much bigger.
"Something’s either chasing them or scared them back this way."
Fluttershy stands up and looks where the flock had come from, only to see the cause of the flock's change in direction—much to her amazement but also dread.
[iIt looks like the T. rex had found Fluttershy before Fluttershy could find them.
Standing before Fluttershy were three T. rexes. They appeared to be sub-adults, almost fully grown. They were a mottled brown color with a cream underbelly. There are streaks of brown down their mouths and snouts, resembling stripes. Above their eye were crests that appeared prominent. The three looked down at her, surprised by what they were staring at. She smelled like a mammal to them, but she was much bigger and looked vastly different from any mammal they'd ever seen or smelled before. Unfortunately, despite being much larger than Fluttershy, the three Tyrannosaurs began hissing and grumbling at her, baring their massive teeth, unsure what to make of her. Fluttershy, however, is trying to remain calm during this ordeal.
"No sudden moves," Fluttershy says as she slowly backs up as the three theropod predators inch closer. Many thoughts run through her head as she considers every possible way to escape this situation. Unfortunately, Fluttershy realizes that there is only one option: run.
Fluttershy bolts toward the trees in the same direction as the Ornithomimus. The three massive predators were briefly surprised by Fluttershy's sudden decision but quickly regained their composure and chased after her. Fluttershy sprints as fast as she can through the forest, desperately trying to escape the three T. rexes, all while they hiss at her, reminiscent of crocodiles and alligators.
Fluttershy’s attempt at finding a T. rex didn't go as planned. Luckily, Fluttershy does have two advantages. Despite T. rex being speculated to run up to 17 miles per hour, Fluttershy’s smaller size in this dense forest allows her to move faster. The only downside is that the predators don't need to move at top speed to catch up to her. Thanks to their size and long legs, an adult Tyrannosaurus rex can cover more ground while moving than a human can. In addition to their elongated posture, the predators are getting dangerously close to catching Fluttershy. Thankfully, the other advantage is that T. rex is so top-heavy that if they trip, the fall could seriously injure or even kill them.
Fluttershy manages to duck and run under a fallen tree- not a moment too soon, as one of the rexes reaches its head over and snaps at her but misses. The dinosaur releases one last hiss, this one more powerful. Fluttershy, however, keeps running until she finds a large bush.
"Get down, get down," Fluttershy orders as she stares at the three from behind the bush. The treeline and brush are too dense for the three Tyrannosaurs to get through. Eventually, they realize the chase is not worth it, turning and walking away. Once Fluttershy sees they're far enough away, she gets up from behind the bush.
"That was a close one," Fluttershy panted, looking back and seeing that the three were long gone. "The predators don't like confined spaces like this. That's why, I think, they're staying back there. I don't think they chased after me because they saw me as food or a threat, but it was because I ran. That likely triggered their chasing instinct; all predators have it. They also likely did it out of curiosity. They could have eaten me had they caught me, but I doubt that was their goal when they first saw me. *Pant* I think what we got to do now is head back to camp."
With that, Fluttershy begins her hike back to camp.
As the day shifts to evening, Fluttershy is still hiking back to camp. She begins reminiscing about today's events: traveling back in time, encountering her first dinosaurs, a flock of Ornithomimus, almost capturing one of them, and then being chased by a trio of Tyrannosaurus rex. Unfortunately, this has Fluttershy feeling slightly down.
Day one over, and there's no T. rex to take home. At least there's no sight of the meteor, either. But it can't be far away.
At the camp, the team is cleaning up a bit while Fluttershy crouches over the creek nearby to wash her face. As she does, she's still a bit disheartened that her first encounter with a T. rex was not how she planned. While she knows that the mission's first day is not guaranteed to end with bringing one to Prehistoric Park, she hoped she could have found a way to strategize a plan to catch one, especially since she has about three more days to do so.
Luckily, her disheartenment won't last much longer.
The following morning, the camp has some visitors.
Fluttershy continues to wash her face but stops when she hears grunting sounds approaching. She quickly wipes the water away from her eyes and sees a herd of dinosaurs approaching.
More creatures in the last throes of their existence.
Fluttershy gazes in awe as the herd approaches the creek. The dinosaurs have large frills and three horns, two from above their eyes and one on their snouts.
"Now this is an amazing sight to wake up to: A big herd of Triceratops," Fluttershy says. "This is a tremendous sight. These are Triceratops prorsus, which means straightforward three-horned face. They're believed to be the descendants of Triceratops horridus, a species whose name means horrid three-horned face. But how could they? They are gorgeous."
The team, who had stopped what they were doing, came to join Fluttershy as the Triceratops gathered around the creek. Some of the herbivores were coming for a drink, and others were browsing on the plants around them. Most of the herd doesn't seem to notice Fluttershy and the team's presence, but the ones in front do and stare at them. Like with the Ornithomimus and Tyrannosaurus rex from the day before, the three-horned herbivores are stunned by what they see and smell. The herbivores stared as Fluttershy motioned to her team to back away slowly and avoid eye contact in hopes of not causing them any stress.
"They're big too. The females have got to be at least five or six tons while the males could be pushing at least eight to ten," Fluttershy states before pointing to a particularly large one. "That one over there, a big male, must be at least 25 feet long, and look at how long his horns are. Fossils have shown variation in both the shape and length of horns between individual Triceratops, and the males likely used them to impress females and ward off and fight rivals and predators. And the frills, each individual has different colors and patterns-" However, she's soon interrupted by a loud, honk-like sound. She and the team turn to their left and see a herd of other dinosaurs approaching. These were taller than the Triceratops, and even the three tyrannosaurs Fluttershy had previously encountered. Their mouths were large, and their shape was reminiscent of a duck bill.
"This is terrific; we now have a herd of duck-billed hadrosaurs, Edmontosaurus. When you see hadrosaur dinosaurs in movies and television, many assume they're the size of a horse or maybe a little bit bigger. However, these blow that perception out of the water; they are huge," Fluttershy says. The Edmontosaurus herd joins the Triceratops in feeding, but do keep their distance. The ceratopsians don't seem to mind the hadrosaurs and vice versa, likely because they don't see each other as a threat. "And the good thing for us is there are a lot of them. They're both prey animals for T.rex, especially the Edmontosaurus. I've seen tracks of the predator over there," Fluttershy gestures towards the forest on her left. "Prey and predators are attracted to water sources, and what I'm going to do is follow the tracks to see if I can find one."
Fluttershy then begins to walk back towards the camp as some of the Triceratops and Edmontosaurus, who had just now noticed her presence, watch him leave. The edmontosaurs, while not necessarily afraid of Fluttershy since she wasn't threatening them and they're much larger than her, walk away a little to be as far from her as possible but stay in the area to continue feeding. The Triceratops, however, have now let their guard down and drink from the creek, although they do look up every little bit or so to keep an eye on the strange creatures settled nearby.
Sometime later, Fluttershy has been following the Tyrannosaurus rex tracks. She was walking up the hill of an open area overlooking a lake. However, despite the beautiful view, Fluttershy is vigilant so that she doesn't have a similar encounter to yesterday's.
As she continues to follow, she briefly stops and crouches at one of the prints on the ground before continuing.
The tracks are fresh, and it looks like a well-used trail. T. rex, despite their massive size and build, can walk for long distances when they need to.
The tracks that Fluttershy had been following only represented one animal, but she's now just come across two more sets on this trail, all walking alongside one another.
Fluttershy is hoping these aren't too far away.
As she continues to follow, Fluttershy spots a disturbance in the soil and quickly moves to investigate.
"The tracks are beginning to tell a story. Look here," She gestures to a large mark in the dirt. "That was a big tail sweep, and there are impressions here of bodies. There was a fight here, I think. Another tail drag over there," She gestures. "And the tracks are going on. I think we're getting close to the center of their territory."
Fluttershy continues to follow the tracks of the three. After several minutes of tracking, Fluttershy hears something. She crouches down and moves closer to a large rock outcropping. Once she reaches it, she sees something big moving and quickly realizes it's a T. rex.
"Crouch down." Fluttershy quietly orders. "Get over here." She gets on her stomach, hiding among the rock outcrop. Before her are three Tyrannosaurus rex. Two of them are biting and tussling with each other, while one is just walking around them, minding its own business. However, they don't appear to be adults. "Those three, I think they're the ones who chased me yesterday. I noticed they didn't appear fully grown, but I didn't have the opportunity to examine them. Now that I have a good look at them, my best guess is that they're around sixteen. Paleontologists believe that T. rex reached full maturity at around twenty years old. These three must weigh around five or six tons. Seeing these three together, I'm guessing they're siblings. Fossilized tracks have shown multiple individuals walking alongside one another, but no one has determined whether they're social or solitary. The leading theory is that T. rex was generally solitary but did work with others to hunt big prey from time to time. The ones who hunted together were likely siblings or mates, which makes sense since they would be familiar with one another and could cooperate rather easily."
She ducks down a little more when the first T. rex, the one walking around, passes by the outcrop. After it walked past, Fluttershy looked back up and watched the three. "It's terrific. That fight back there, it must've been those two over there," Fluttershy gestures to the two fighting. "I don't see any food for them here, so they must have been fighting for practice. Many animals need to learn how to fight, as it may help them one day take over another's territory, food, for mates, or to defend themselves and those three things."
It's a dangerous game. T. rex has huge jaw muscles, giving them the strongest bite force of any known terrestrial animal at over 12,000 pounds of force, over three times that of a saltwater crocodile, and over twelve times more powerful than a lion's.
"I can't tell whether these three are male, female, or both. But I guess that they're males due to the crests above their eyes. T. rex had these crests on their postorbital bone above each eye. These crests could have been used for display, but no one really knows what they were used for. I've yet to see a fully mature T. rex of either sex, but given the size of their crests, they're probably male."
The one T. rex who had been walking stopped and stood still while its siblings continued to wrestle.
"They're a real mob, like a gang looking for trouble," Fluttershy says. "And they really interact." Suddenly, the one rex straightens itself up and looks to its left, sensing something. Fluttershy notices its sudden behavior change, but before she can say anything, the rex hisses at its siblings to get their attention. The two stop their squabbling and quickly sense it, too. The first rex begins to walk toward the outcrop where Fluttershy is hiding, with the other two following suit. Fluttershy gets down to avoid being seen.
"Suddenly, they all started moving this way." Thankfully, the three don't notice Fluttershy and walk past the outcrop. However, they're all walking quickly, as if trying to follow or avoid something.
It's one thing to find a T. rex, but it's another thing to take one home.
After several minutes, Fluttershy gets up from her hiding spot, the three T. rexes now gone. Their sudden behavior change, however, has Fluttershy confused.
"I have no idea why they just left," Fluttershy states. "I don't think it was something they smelled; the wind was moving downwind in the direction they headed, and they weren't sniffing the air. It must have been something they heard. Tyrannosaurus rex had an excellent sense of hearing, even picking up on low-frequency sounds. It's possible that they heard another animal nearby and either went to investigate or get away from it."
Fluttershy, however, decides to avoid following them. Instead, she goes down to where they were moments ago. Climbing down from the outcrop, Fluttershy goes to the clearing and witnesses the footprints and disturbances on the ground where they walked and tussled. However, she notices something else near the treeline. She walks over and finds another T. rex footprint; only this one is bigger than the rest.
"Now I see why they left," Fluttershy says. "This footprint is of an adult Tyrannosaurus. It must belong to the ruler of this territory, and those three must have heard it. They probably moved into this area recently, looking for resources or to establish their own territory, only to discover that it's already occupied. This individual is likely to be double their weight, so even though those three have a numbers advantage, they won't chance an encounter with an adult."
Being in the territory of a larger T. rex may sound more worrisome, but for Fluttershy, it opens a new opportunity.
"If I can find that adult, I might be able to get it back to Prehistoric Park."
Two hours have passed since Fluttershy started her search for the adult T. rex. The downside for T. rex hearing low-frequency sounds is that the adult is likely miles away. Traveling several miles in one day is not a big deal for a T. rex, but it's long and exhausting for Fluttershy.
Fluttershy eventually sees something in the forest. She moves closer to get a better look. To her disappointment, it's not a T.rex, but it might just be something else to bring back.
Fortunately, dinosaurs lay eggs and are much easier to carry.
"It looks like a nest. I'm going to go have a look now and see if I can find any eggs." Fluttershy says as she moves towards the nest.
Unfortunately, she's too late.
Fluttershy reaches the nest, only to see that it's mostly empty aside from a few eggshells.
"This is all I could find, empty T. rex eggshells," Fluttershy says as she examines the nest. "They might have been broken into by a predator, or more likely, they're last season's eggs. It's so disappointing; if we could have found a fresh T. rex nest, got the eggs, and taken them back to Prehistoric Park, that would have been the easiest option for us."
Fluttershy, finding no luck searching for the adult or a fresh nest, decides it's time to head back to camp.
It's now evening, and Fluttershy, who has already returned to camp, sits at a fire, enjoying her beverage.
Another day, and she's still no closer to saving a T. rex. And up above are the first signs that the meteor is closing in. Streaking across tonight's skies are shooting stars. Huge boulders are entering Earth's atmosphere at 20,000 miles per hour. They are the precursor of something much, much bigger.
"Look at this cosmological activity going on here; those are meteors. Nothing to worry about; they burn up in the atmosphere. But they're in the bowway of the meteor. When that comes through, that's going to smack into the Earth. And that's the problem, we really have such little time here, and I'm hoping tomorrow will go better, and we can save a T. rex or two."
The moon is bright once the sun has disappeared for the night. After failing to bring a T. rex back to Prehistoric Park these last couple of days, Fluttershy and her team are on edge. They only have two more days until the meteor hits the planet, and once it does, the mission is over, T. rex or none.
However, Fluttershy and her team had devised a new strategy. When Fluttershy returned to the camp yesterday, the herds of Triceratops and Edmontosaurus had already moved on. Luckily for Fluttershy, their tracks showed that both herds were traveling toward the lake she had seen the previous day. Both herbivores are prey for Tyrannosaurus rex, and water sources are excellent hunting grounds for predators. If they could find the herds and wait and see if the three young or the adult T. rexes showed up, she could lure at least one in through the time portal. After they agreed on the plan, Fluttershy and her team packed supplies and equipment for the morning before tucking in for the night.
The sun is up and bright as its light reflects across the lake below it. The herds of Triceratops and Edmontosaurus have been there all night and are enjoying the plentiful vegetation and water. However, this peaceful moment was not going to last much longer.
The next day, the trio of T. rex turn up, looking for trouble.
Just within the dense brush at the edge of the clearing, the three young tyrannosaur siblings are stalking the herds, who are unaware of their presence. Fluttershy and her team, who had arrived a few hours earlier, had noticed them. They watched the trio carefully and kept a good distance from them to avoid gaining their attention. After a long night of unsuccessful hunting and traveling far to avoid the adult, these herds are a blessing to the young tyrannosaurs. However, the three know they're risking a lot by hunting during the day in an open area and inside an adult's territory, but their hunger outweighs the risks. The three theropods are examining the herds to select their target. The Triceratops have a lot of meat on them, but even for a pack of three sub-adult T. rexes, one can cause serious injury or death to the hunters. The edmontosaurs are a safer option but are dangerously close to the Triceratops. This hunt will be incredibly risky, and while they could wait until nightfall for a better chance, they're too hungry to wait any longer.
It seems both the Triceratops and Edmontosaurus are on the menu.
Fluttershy and her team watch the T. rexes with their binoculars. They see that the three are now beginning their hunt. Having selected their target, the predators split up, with two going right and one going left.
"It looks like their strategy is to have those two burst out of the trees to distract and scare the herds into heading toward the third T. rex, who's waiting to ambush which animal they target," Fluttershy explains before returning her attention to the hunt. "Now that they're on the move, we need to get ready to move in when we can." Fluttershy puts her binoculars down and gives orders to get her team ready to move before she heads for the herds.
Meanwhile, back with the predators, the two are now in position to enact their plan. They see their sibling off in the distance, waiting in his position. After brief moments of peaceful silence, the two burst out of the brush and charged toward the herds.
"Charging toward the herbivores, right amid the herds there!"
The edmontosaurs and even the Triceratops panic from this sudden attack and run in various directions. Both T. rex hiss at their prey to lead them toward their sibling.
"And what the T. rex are doing, they'll find the weakest."
The predators have selected their target, but before they can reach it, they're confronted by a pair of Triceratops. The well-armed herbivores push back against the predators, defending their young.
A fully grown Triceratops is far from defenseless. While mainly used for display and communication, its frill is made of solid bone. Unfortunately, its frill doesn't offer as much protection as one might think. It's its horns, however, that is the biggest threat. The horns of a Triceratops are also made of solid bone and covered in several layers of keratin, making them stronger. One strike from those horns can be devastating.
Blocked and outmatched, the two Tyrannosaurs are unsure of what to do. Their brother watches from the brush, just as confused as them. One thing is clear, though: their desperation messed up the hunt. But, when they think it couldn't get any worse, the two notice something else behind the Triceratops. Much to their distress, it was another Tyrannosaurus rex. This one, however, was at least twice their size; its crests were not as prominent, and while having the same patterning, it was lighter in color. Drawn by the sound of intruders and panicking prey, the adult T. rex came to investigate. To its displeasure, it finds a small pack of younger individuals attempting and failing at hunting in its territory. However, instead of bursting out and chasing them off, the adult takes advantage of the situation. It, too, is hungry, and the panic the young ones have caused has opened an opportunity to ambush. The adult T. rex bursts out and charges toward the young Triceratops. In a panic, the young ceratopsians retreat to escape the bigger predator.
The younger Triceratops know better than to stand their ground.
The younger Triceratops had retreated toward Fluttershy, some nearly hitting her. Fluttershy, distracted by the sudden appearance of the adult T. rex, manages to move out of the way in time, but in the process, she falls to the ground, her binoculars accidentally hitting her in the head. What scared Fluttershy, though, was the force of the Triceratops running past her.
"Almost felt like I was about to be hit by a train."
Back with the hunt, the adult T. rex confronts the young T. rex brothers and the pair of Triceratops. For the brothers, they are completely afraid and confused. For the Triceratops, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. In front of them are two young T. rex, but behind them is an adult. However, their predicament is about to end, but not in a good way. Behind them, to their right, an adolescent Triceratops is running, but in its panic, toward the worst direction.
A young Triceratops has run the wrong way.
The adult T. rex sees the young Triceratops and bites down on it as soon as it's in front of it. The young Triceratops struggles in the adult T. rex's grasp.
The more it struggles, the more trouble it's in as the T. rex's 12-inch long, thick, and conical, serrated teeth sink deeper and deeper.
The young Triceratops cries out in pain and fear as the adult T. rex continues to bite down on its helpless victim. All Fluttershy can do is watch, witnessing the sad and tragic end of such a young animal at the jaws of such a powerful predator. However, one of the adult Triceratops hears the cries and spots the young Triceratops in the jaws of the adult T. rex. It rushes toward the predator.
Luckily, help is at hand.
"A Triceratops is fighting back the adult T. rex!"
The adult rex sees the adult Triceratops charging and drops its prey to confront it. The adult Triceratops lunges forward, pushing the T. rex back. The adult rex lunges forward, but the Triceratops throws its head up to deflect the attack. Then, the Triceratops rushes forward and manages to hit the Tyrannosaur with its horns. The rex lets out a cry of pain before re-engaging with its opponent.
"The horn's gone right into the upper thigh!"
The Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops continue to fight. The Triceratops lunges forward again, and its horns leave more wounds on the rex's side. The T. rex attempts to go for the neck, but the Triceratops knocks the theropod back. The Triceratops attacks again and lands a few more hits, causing the T. rex to cry out in pain. The younger T. rexes, witnessing it all, finally decided to retreat. They join up with their brother and head far away from the scene.
"And the young ones, they just left!"
So much for the hunt.
The adult Triceratops retreats, leaving the injured adult T. rex. Blood drips down the predator's leg. T. rexes are tough, but even they can succumb to injury.
Now the injured T. rex has to attempt a new kill. And it looks like it spotted its next victims: more youngsters.
Hiding poorly behind some bushes was a young Triceratops and a young Edmontosaurus. Both were about half the size of the adults, and the Triceratops' horns were curved upward. They're too scared to move, even as the adult T. rex, intent on hunting one of them, moves toward them.
For Fluttershy, this is the chance she's been waiting for. She sets up the time portal.
Fluttershy and her team set up the time portal as quickly as possible. Once it's set, they head toward the two young herbivores.
"Maybe I can get three species for the price of one," Fluttershy says as she takes off her backpack, takes out a bandana, and waves it in front of the two cowering animals. The two look back and see that the T. rex is getting closer but are still too afraid to leave their hiding spot. "If I can lure these two through the time portal, come on, then maybe the T. rex will follow."
Fluttershy waves her vest at the Triceratops and Edmontosaurus, almost desperately trying to entice them to run toward the portal. The two refuse to budge, afraid and now confused by everything happening. The Triceratops looks back and sees the Tyrannosaurus is getting closer, and now he has to decide: stay or run. Ultimately, the fear of being killed by the predator gets the best of him, and he and the Edmontosaurus book it toward the portal.
"Come on!" Fluttershy yells as the two herbivores move, not a second too soon as the T. rex finally reaches the bush. The T. rex stops at the bush and gives a loud hiss as its two targets run through the portal, with Fluttershy and her team following behind.
"Come on, T. rex!"
The tyrannosaur gives out one last hiss before going quiet. The animal is perplexed by what it just witnessed. Seconds ago, it saw a young Triceratops and Edmontosaurus running away from it, along with some strange-looking creatures, only to disappear into thin air.
Time: Present Day
Location: Prehistoric Park
Mission Log: Day 3
Days Until Meteor Impact: 2
Back at Prehistoric Park, Applejack was at the holding facility. She had spent most of her time there these last few days waiting for Fluttershy and her team. She was up on the walkway above the holding pens when she saw the portal open. She hurried over anxiously, thinking she was about to see Fluttershy and a T. rex. But what came through first was different from what she expected. She watched as a young Triceratops and Edmontosaurus rushed through, followed by Fluttershy and her team, much to her relief.
"Well, those are certainly not T. rexes!" Applejack calls out to Fluttershy, who looks up and laughs.
The two dinosaurs enter one of the pens together before the gate behind them closes. They are confused by everything. Moments ago, they were being chased by a T. rex in their forested habitat, and now they're in a weird and unknown environment surrounded by strange creatures. However, despite it all, they've calmed down a little now that the T. rex is gone.
With the Triceratops weighing in at five tons and the Edmontosaurus at four, both make a great start.
Everyone at the holding facility stops what they're doing and comes to see the two herbivores. Up top, Applejack grabs her radio and calls the whole Park.
It's not long before news spreads that Prehistoric Park's first dinosaurs have arrived.
A car arrives at the holding facility and pulls up to the pen. Inside the car are two friends of Fluttershy’s and the Park's head veterinarian and apprentice.
The Park's vet, Sunset Shimmer, and her apprentice Pinkie Pie, head over to take a look for themselves.
Sunset and Pinkie walk up to the pen, look through the gaps, and see the two dinosaurs within.
"It's a Triceratops and Edmontosaurus; she's done it!"
"Our first dinosaurs, look at them. They're magnificent."
Later that evening, two large trucks pull up to the holding facility. These are transport trucks, and their first passengers are the Triceratops and Edmontosaurus.
"All the way, get back," Rarity, the second-in-command headkeeper, orders as the first truck backs up to the pen.
Second-in-Command Park Keeper, Rarity, is keen to move the newcomers into a secure enclosure as soon as possible.
"Hold it! That's far enough."
The staff prepare the truck to be boarded.
Back in her office, Fluttershy is filling out some paperwork. She wants to finish quickly because Rarity is moving the two newcomers to their new home.
Although they were unexpected arrivals, Fluttershy thinks they’ve got the perfect place to put them.
Fluttershy finishes filling out the paperwork before walking to the wall-mounted map of the Park.
"Come on, I need to have a look at that. Up you go," Fluttershy gently says to a little boa constrictor hanging from the top of the wall, blocking the map before lifting it out of the way. "Triceratops and Edmontosaurus, our first dinosaurs; we need a good place to keep them. I'm going to call them Theo and Edmonton; those are great names for them. But we need some vegetation for them to browse on. Rarity and I have looked over here-" She gestures to a large open grassland. "... too much grass. So Twilight found the perfect spot. Down here by the river, and that's where their enclosure is going to be. Applejack’s already had an enclosure built there long ago, just in case. We're going to keep the two together. We haven't seen any aggression from the two toward one another, nor any stress of them being together. They'll cohabitate just fine in their new home, and I think they're just about to unload them."
With that, Fluttershy pins a small piece of paper labeled 'Triceratops and Edmontosaurus Creek' on the map, indicating the location of the new enclosure before she heads off to witness the release of Theo and Edmonton.
Fluttershy arrives at the enclosure just in time. Rarity and a few of the staff had just parked the trucks inside and were getting ready to let the two inside out.
"Hey, Rarity!" Fluttershy says to her friend as she exits her vehicle.
"Ah, darling!" Rarity says as she walks over and pats Fluttershy on the back.
"I'm thrilled to be here, and I can see you are; our first dinosaurs."
"A bit short notice, but I'll forgive you though. Our new visitors are magnificent."
"And how's the enclosure?"
"It's a bit makeshift, but it'll do for the time being."
The two walk over to the perfect spot to watch the release.
"Let's take a look."
"Let's see."
"I've given them names as well."
"Uh-huh?"
"Theo the Triceratops and Edmonton the Edmontosaurus."
"Theo and Edmonton, good names. Alright, let them out!" Rarity orders as the crew opens the doors to both trucks. "Here they come, here they come—whoa whoa, ha ha!"
Theo and Edmonton barrel their way out of the trucks, with Theo almost getting a little too close to Fluttershy and Rarity. Once on the ground, Theo and Edmonton gaze at their new surroundings. It looked different from their old home, but it seemed rather peaceful. There was a forest to their left, a creek to their right, and plenty of bushes, trees, and shrubs to feed on. And best of all, no predators.
"Look at that!" Fluttershy exclaims, witnessing the two dinosaurs take in their new surroundings. "Plenty for them to eat; Tell Twilight that I told her ‘well done.’ It's great."
"Alright, come on, lads. Get the boards and the trucks out of here." Rarity orders the crew to begin the cleanup.
"I'm pleased with this habitat for the Triceratops and Edmontosaurus," Fluttershy says. "Grass is no good for dinosaurs; it was still rare when they were around. And Triceratops isn’t like a black rhino; it doesn't browse. What it does is graze and browse like a mix between a moose and bison. It needs low shrubs and trees, and there are plenty of those for Theo here. And he's got such a beak; he can snap off branches as thick as my arm. The edmontosaurs did graze on several types of plants, but again, not grass. There are plenty of plants for him to eat here, but we'll have to plant things like cycads in here later for both of them to feed on. Other than that, this is gonna be great for them to thrive."
Fluttershy hops in her car as Theo and Edmonton watch them leave. Once Fluttershy, Rarity, and the rest of the staff had left, the two herbivores began to feed.
For Theo and Edmonton to reach their full size, they'll have to spend most of their lives eating.
Fluttershy is now back at her lodge. She walks toward her office, passing a pair of macaws perched on the railing.
With the Park's first dinosaurs settled, Fluttershy turns her attention once again to T. rex.
And the pressure’s back on Applejack to finish up the enclosure.
Construction is still underway at the site of the T. rex enclosure. It's almost done, but Applejack is anxious to finish it quickly, as there is only a short amount of time left.
"I haven't had a darn clue how to build an enclosure for a Tyrannosaurus rex; I've only seen a picture of one in the novel, Jurassic Park," Applejack explains as she walks around, inspecting the progress of the construction. "But Twilight seems to think that this’ll do. There are lots of areas for it to move around, there's lots of shade to get out of the sun, and I've built it at the bottom of the hill so that, if it wants to, it can stand up there and survey its domain."
The enclosure that will house the T. rex is perfect. Its size, habitat, and setup will make a great home for the last of the Tyrant Lizard Kings.
Fluttershy, not wasting any more time, hops into her Range Rover and drives to the holding facility. She has just over a day left to save a T. rex.
The enclosure will have to be finished soon because Fluttershy is on her way back to where she left off: 66 million years ago. And this time, she's promised to return with a T. rex.
The portal is opened, and Fluttershy drives through it, determined to bring back the king of the dinosaurs.
The powerful yet calming sounds of a waterfall echo through the forest. The rushing waters of the river below drown them out the further down you go. The calls of prehistoric life fill the air. All these things are what Fluttershy hears as she makes her way downriver. After returning to the late Cretaceous, she set off immediately to find a T. rex. Fluttershy has at least less of a day left to accomplish her mission. The meteor is closing in, and once it hits, the dinosaurs will be wiped from the face of the Earth. The only survivors will be the birds.
It's not just the dinosaurs that will be wiped out by the meteor strike.
Fluttershy grabs her binoculars and looks up when she hears a call from the sky above her. She witnesses a flock of pterosaurs flying overhead, and can't help but feel sympathy for the doomed creatures.
Fluttershy knows that everything she sees around her will be devastated.
As the pterosaurs fly away, Fluttershy takes in her surroundings. This lush forest, rushing river, and clear skies will soon be gone.
“What a majestic place. Pterosaurs swooping overhead, you can hear them calling all of the time," she says before taking a quick sip of water from the river. "And sweet water. But it's hard to believe this stream will be choked with ash and dust. The meteor is going to hit not too far away, and time is running out. This is my second rescue mission, and I'm determined to rescue some T. rex for Prehistoric Park."
Fluttershy continues her way down the river, and after a little while, she can no longer hear the waterfall. As she makes her way along the river bank, she checks the ground, looking for something. There's a reason why Fluttershy decided to follow this river. It's connected to the lake where she witnessed the failed T. rex hunts and saved Theo and Edmonton. When she arrived at the lake earlier today, Fluttershy noticed some blood on the rocks at the mouth of the river, along with something else.
There are lots of dinosaur tracks to follow, but Fluttershy’s interested in one set in particular.
Before long, Fluttershy finds what she's looking for. She crouches down to get a better look at a set of T. rex tracks. However, these aren't the tracks of any random tyrannosaur.
"There's something strange with these tracks," Fluttershy states. "Look, this one here, the toes have been dragged along. And I think it's the adult T. rex that was gored in the stampede."
The previous day, during the hunt, an adult Tyrannosaurus rex appeared and attempted to take advantage of the failed hunt enacted by the young trio Fluttershy had followed for the last couple of days. The adult had managed to get ahold of a young Triceratops, only for an adult to come in and attack the rex. The fight resulted in the Tyrannosaur becoming injured and the herds escaping. The predator then attempted to hunt Theo and Edmonton. Fluttershy attempted to rescue the two young herbivores and use them as bait to lure the tyrannosaur through the Time Portal. However, while the Triceratops and Edmontosaurus went through, the rex didn't follow.
"We're pretty close to where the stampede was. You can see where it dragged its toes through the mud. It's injured, and if it's got an injury it'll be moving pretty slowly. And if we head downstream and follow these tracks, we may be able to catch up."
Fluttershy makes her way downriver, following the tracks. As she does, the river's edge becomes rockier and rockier, confusing Fluttershy. Why would a T. rex, an injured one, travel down this part of the river? Despite that, Fluttershy knows that he cannot stop and ponder.
The track takes her downriver, where she's hoping to gain ground on the T. rex. With any luck, its’ injury will make it slower and a little easier to catch.
Fluttershy marches on, and after an hour, something catches her attention. She’s walking along the river's edge when she hears branches and leaves being moved and crushed on the ground above her. That can only mean one thing: the T. rex is here.
"Listen," Fluttershy says quietly. "Its footfalls are reverberating; it's up there somewhere. And an animal that weighs nine or ten tons, they can walk quietly but can make noise when they choose to."
"And look," Fluttershy points to a dead Triceratops in the river. "There's a Triceratops corpse, and it can smell that. That's why it's been moving so steadfastly along the river."
However, just above Fluttershy, the T. rex was moving toward where she was. The predator was huffing hard, clearly in pain. Its steps crunching the leaves and branches before touching the dirt. Fluttershy hears it and quickly takes cover at the river's edge, hoping she won't be found.
"Get on your back." She orders. "We don't want it to see us."
The predator's head looks over the edge, hissing in pain. Fluttershy keeps as low as she can; luckily, the T. rex has its eyes on something else. It sees the dead Triceratops flowing slowly down the river. It recognizes this corpse as the same young Triceratops it almost killed the previous day. Despite being saved by the adult Triceratops, the injuries the young one received were too great, and they ultimately succumbed to them. It had died in the river as it attempted to cross.
The T. rex moves on, following the carcass. The Tyrannosaurus' injuries make hunting difficult, so it has to resort to scavenging. The dead Triceratops would make for an excellent meal.
"It's starting to move away," Fluttershy says, rising from her hiding spot. "I'm certain it was the one attacked by the Triceratops."
The T. rex has been able to track down this free meal despite being badly injured because T. rexes have a superb sense of smell.
The T. rex moves downstream, following the corpse. After a few minutes, the injured predator stops. The dead Triceratops is now stuck between some rocks.
It's in luck. The Triceratops carcass has become stuck. This is Fluttershy’s chance to get really close to it.
Fluttershy does get close, and she examines the injured animal. The T. rex's left leg shakes as it stops at the river. Fluttershy also takes notice of the crests on its head.
"The crests on this one's head are not as pronounced as those of the three young T. rexes from before, and it's lighter in color. This one is much bigger than them, thus older, so I believe it's a female," Fluttershy states.
As Fluttershy watches, the T. rex carefully attempts to reach over and grab the carcass. The rocks are loose and slippery, so she must be careful if she is to get an easy meal.
"And she must be so hungry; she's desperate for an easy meal. Even though T. rex is everyone's ultimate prehistoric monster, you just can't help but feel sorry for her," Fluttershy says. The female T. rex growls in frustration and pain. Her leg hurts, and the easiest meal she could get is just out of reach, across a flowing river with loose terrain. "She's a top predator, and they're so top-heavy; if she went in this fast-flowing water, she'd be flipped over easily. But she's desperate to get at the meat." The poor animal takes another shaky step forward, her mouth drooling out of hunger. "I just feel so sorry for her. She's desperate to get out there. It's just across the water, but she's got no chance."
The T-rex isn’t the only predator drawn by the temptation of a free meal.
On the ridge over her head, a series of squawking and chittering could be heard. Fluttershy looked to where the sounds were, and there stood at least four or five smaller theropod dinosaurs overlooking the river from their vantage point. Compared to the gigantic T-rex, these minuscule predators were less than a third the size and much more lightly built, with much smaller heads. Black and white feathers adorned their bodies, giving them a more birdlike appearance. Each of the creatures' hands were tipped with three fingers ending with long claws and rusty red wings and tail fan. And on their long, powerful hind legs, the middle toes bristled with the trademark talons of their species.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in dread. "Dromaeosaurs! More commonly known as raptors." Luckily for her, the raptors took no notice of her presence, their eyes solely focused on the Triceratops carcass.
Futtershy took a closer look at their features. "These must be Acheroraptors. They must've been attracted to the Triceratops carcass too."
Soon, the pack rapidly closed the distance, darting past the T-rex who snapped her jaws at their approach, snarling her irritation. Unlike their tyrannosaur rival, the agile and nimble raptors had no problems in leaping over the river and navigating the rocks to reach the ceratopsian’s carcass. In almost no time at all, the entire band was perched on the corpse, gobbling down chunks of flesh with their serrated teeth and squabbling for the choicest cuts. The T-rex could only look on helplessly, her jaws salivating.
Taking notice of the gigantic intruder in their midst, the Acheroraptors hissed and shrieked their displeasure, feathers raised in aggression.
"She’s backing down. It doesn't look like the raptors are in any mood to share," noted Fluttershy sadly.
The female T. rex makes one last attempt to grab the carcass. She takes one more step closer, but her injured leg causes her to hiss in pain once again. Once again, she stops, but this time she gives up. It's too risky for her to get ahold of the carcass. Grumbling in defeat, the tyrannosaur leaves, leaving the raptors to feast at their leisure.
The T. rex limps off, leaving Fluttershy to figure out what to do next.
It has been a few hours since Fluttershy found the injured female T. rex. After considering her options, Fluttershy decided to head back to camp to regroup with her team and devise an effective strategy. The injured female is not too far from camp, and based on where she headed after giving up on the Triceratops carcass, she's likely to head in Fluttershy’s direction since it's where her best chances at hunting are. Fluttershy thinks that if she makes it to the camp, she and her team could lure her through the Time Portal. How, though, is still a question.
Upon returning to camp, Fluttershy is met with a strange sight.
When Fluttershy reaches the camp, she notices that her team is all standing at the edge of the creek below, watching something. Curious as to what they're seeing, Fluttershy heads down to join them.
"Hey everyone," Fluttershy greets her team, who all greet her back. "What's going on?"
"Over there," one of the team members points out.
Fluttershy grabs her binoculars and looks in the direction everyone else is. What she sees fills her with joy because off in the distance is a herd of seven dinosaurs. Most were grayish-brown, although a couple were green. They were bipedal, with no feathers, spikes along their heads' backs, and stripe-like patterns along their bodies. Most importantly, the tops of their skulls were dome-shaped. Fluttershy knows exactly what these are.
"This is so exciting. It's a herd of Pachycephalosaurus," Fluttershy says, ecstatic at what the team had found. "They belong to a family of dinosaurs, the pachycephalosaurs, whose main feature was the large dome on the top of their skulls. Paleontologists originally theorized that they were used for head-butting. However, over the years, some speculated that their skulls were too weak for it and instead were used for display because tiny fibers were found in the skulls. Those fibers likely displayed bright, vibrant colors. However, recent discoveries have shown that pachycephalosaurs did, in fact, head-butt, and they could withstand a force similar to what American Football players withstand, which is a tremendous amount of power."
This herd of Pachycephalosaurus is not head-butting. Instead, they are feeding on the vegetation around them. The ones with lighter green coloration were the females, while the two darker ones were males. What catches Fluttershy’s interest are the males.
"Look, the big one with the yellow neck and bright red dome head has got to be the dominant male. The other male has some of those colors, but they're not as pronounced as the leader's, and he's smaller. I guess that he's not reached maturity yet."
These Pachycephalosaurs will become extinct as well. But Fluttershy has other plans.
Wasting no time, Fluttershy rushes back to camp and grabs the Time Portal.
"I would love to have these Pachycephalosaurus back at Prehistoric Park," Fluttershy says as she heads toward the herd with her team. "I think that if we corral them, we might be able to get them to go through the Time Portal. But we must be careful because all of them, especially the males, could charge, and if they hit you, it could cause a lot of damage to your body."
Now, closer to the herd, Fluttershy sets up the Time Portal. With it set up, Fluttershy and her team now come up with a strategy to get the Pachycephalosaurus through.
"What we're going to do is we're going to take our vests off and surround the herd. We will expect the dominant male to become defensive, but if we manage to cause the rest to panic and run towards the Time Portal, he might follow them," Fluttershy says quietly as she and the team get into position. They must be quiet, or the whole herd will become alarmed, and the trap might not work. They all quietly surround the dinosaurs and get their vests ready. On the count of three, Fluttershy signals to enact the plan.
The team jumps out, waving their vests at the herd. The pachycephalosaurs, alarmed, move close together for safety. The dominant male circles his herd, keeping himself between the "attackers" and his herd. He bellows out an aggressive call at Fluttershy and her team. In the dinosaurs' minds, they don't know what they're dealing with. They're used to their typical predators, but they've never seen anything as strange as the creatures surrounding them. While stressed by all this, the dominant male keeps as calm as he can. However, the rest of his herd are beginning to panic.
Seeing her moment, Fluttershy activates the Time Portal. With the Portal open, the team advances toward the herd. Sensing the panic in his herd, the dominant male makes a charge at one of these strange creatures. He causes some team members to briefly back up, but they regroup and continue pushing on. The dominant male Pachycephalosaurus had no intentions of attacking but had hoped that he could have scared this new threat away. He snorts loudly and scrapes the ground, preparing to charge again, but before he can, his herd runs toward the Portal, too panicked to stand their ground. The male whips his head back and sees his herd run through this strange-looking mist. He turns back to his adversaries, and in his mind, he has to decide: stay and fight or follow after his herd. Luckily for Fluttershy and her team, the male picks the latter. The Pachycephalosaurus whips around and rushes through the Time Portal after his herd.
With another successful rescue, Fluttershy closes the Time Portal before she and her team head back to camp to devise a plan to rescue a T. rex.
Time: Present Day
Location: Prehistoric Park
Mission Log: Day 4
Days Until Meteor Impact: 1
Back at Prehistoric Park, Rarity receives word on seven new arrivals from the Late Cretaceous.
Rarity, who had been busy somewhere else earlier, drives over to the holding facility. Running through her mind is the thought that Fluttershy had brought back seven T. rexes. Once she arrives, she walks over to the holding pen where the Park's new arrivals are contained. Luckily for Rarity, her worries disappear... mostly.
"Ah, I know you lot are going to be a handful," Rarity states.
It's the final day. In a matter of hours, the meteor will crash into the Earth, and the last of the dinosaurs will go extinct. Fluttershy and her team know this. After rescuing a herd of Pachycephalosaurus the previous day, they spent much of the night devising a plan. Dozens of ideas were thrown out, and most were rejected because they were too complicated, would take too long to pull off, or would fail easily. A few ideas were considered, but Fluttershy had doubts about them. Fluttershy and the team decided to get some rest, but during the night, Fluttershy was thinking hard about what to do. Early in the morning, Fluttershy burst out of her tent, excited, and got everyone up.
Fluttershy has, at last, come up with a plan of her own.
After explaining her plan, the team quickly agreed and immediately got to work. After a few hours, their plan was coming ahead. Fluttershy and her team stacked logs and branches on each other to form a wall.
"What we're trying is a technique used by game capture teams for things like antelope," Fluttershy explains. "We know the T. rex is working her way downriver; we've got ahead of her. She won't go over onto this uneven ground; we know she doesn't like going near the water. We've built this palisade of logs, and we're going to funnel her straight toward the Time Portal and back to the safety of the 21st century. We hope." With that, Fluttershy carries a large log over to the wall to help continue work on the trap.
After another hour, the wall was finished and just in time.
The meteorite is getting closer.
After a short while, Fluttershy and the team spotted movement coming in. One of the teammates managed to spot three types of dinosaurs. The first to arrive was a flock of 13 Ornithomimus, followed shortly after by a herd of six Edmontosaurus.
So is the T. rex, and a flock of Ornithomimus and a herd of Edmontosaurus are running scared.
Not too long ago, both groups of herbivores were minding their business. The hadrosaurs fed on cycads and ferns along the river while the Ornithomimus walked by. However, their quiet moment was interrupted by the injured female Tyrannosaurus rex. The injured predator ambushed them, but her targets easily ran off. Despite that, she pursued them out of desperation. While it has only been a couple of days since she received her injury, the Tyrannosaurus rex knew that she needed food, and fast to help her heal. The Triceratops carcass in the river proved too difficult to get ahold of, as well as to avoid a conflict with a pack of Acheroraptors. She could have followed the three sub-adult males that intruded upon her territory in hopes she could scavenge off a potential kill they made, but her injury was too great for her to take them on her own. Because of these, she's forced to hunt. There was no way she was going after a herd of Triceratops since she would receive even more injuries or possibly be killed in an attempt. Her only option was the Edmontosaurus. These were not fully grown, as they are likely to have been separated from the larger herd during the attack back at the lake a couple of days ago. The Ornithomimus would not make much of a meal, but if she caught one, it would be better than nothing.
The T. rex makes her way downriver, following the herbivores. She manages to catch up and sees that both groups are blocked on their left by a steep slope and on their right by what appears to be a tall pile of fallen tree pieces. Despite the strangeness of this pile, she saw it as an opportunity to corner her prey. Limping forward, the tyrannosaur begins her attack.
"And there she is, the T. rex; that's why they're spooked," Fluttershy states as she watches the predator moving toward them. The Tyrannosaurus rex lets out a hiss of pain as she limps forward. Thinking quickly, Fluttershy activates the Time Portal at the end of the barrier. The two groups of herbivores witness the Portal, confused by what it is but also panicking as their pursuer closes in on them.
"And if we're lucky, she'll chase them right through the Time Portal, and we could have a breeding colony of Ornithomimus and give Edmonton a herd of his own back at Prehistoric Park." Fluttershy quickly gets down behind the barrier, waiting for the animals to go through.
Trapped between the T. rex and the 21st century, they go for the Portal.
"Yeah, one, two..." Fluttershy begins to say as the herbivores begin bolting through the Portal. "And they are bolting through, a whole frenzy of them. Applejack’s going to get a real surprise."
Time: Present Day
Location: Prehistoric Park
Mission Log: Day 5
Days Until Meteor Impact: 0
On the other side of the Time Portal, the Edmontosaurus herd and the Ornithomimus flock are rushing through and into Prehistoric Park's holding facility. Applejack, on the walkway above, sees this and watches it all.
"Oh, good gravy," Applejack states in shock. "Fluttershy, what have you done this time?"
The staff had managed to close the gates enough in time to keep the edmontosaurs from running loose, but the Ornithomimus were too fast and got through.
"Rainbow Dash," Applejack calls over the radio. "We've got a bit of a situation here!"
Time: Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian, 66 MYA
Location: Montana
Mission Log: Day 5
Days Until Meteor Impact: 0
Back in Cretaceous Montana, Fluttershy and her team are pleased that the plan has worked so well. All that remains is the injured T. rex... and one straggler.
One of the edmontosaurs had not gone through the Time Portal. It lets out a call before looking back at the T. rex closing in on it.
One Edmontosaurus is slower than the rest.
The Edmontosaurus moves as fast as it can but struggles to keep up in its confused state, cornered by its two barriers and the strange mist. Luckily, it still has a head start on the predator and is getting closer to the Portal. Fluttershy and the team watch anxiously; they are so close to having a T. rex in Prehistoric Park. Nothing could ruin this moment…
Suddenly, without any warning, two other dinosaurs rushed forward, passing the adult T. rex and Edmontosaurus. Everyone is stunned by what they see: a pair of juvenile T. rex weighing around two tons each. They block the hadrosaur, who stops in surprise at their sudden appearance. The Edmontosaurus, unfortunately, stands in place for too long because the adult T. rex gets up right next to it and bites down on its neck, knocking down a portion of the wall in the process, forcing Fluttershy and her team to duck down. The hadrosaur struggles for a moment before it goes completely limp, dead in the jaws of the Tyrannosaurus rex. The rex then begins dragging its kill away from the river and into the forest, with the two juveniles following. Fluttershy and her team get up and watch as the three predators walk away.
"That was close," Fluttershy says. "I didn’t expect two more T. rexes to show, especially juveniles. They must be her offspring; that has to be the only reason they would aid her and for her to allow them to follow her. They took the Edmontosaurus right there. It's likely to satisfy all three, but time's running out. We have to follow them." However, before she heads off, Fluttershy turns to her team. "All of you, grab everything and get back to Prehistoric Park. I'll meet you there soon."
With that, the team quickly packs up to head home. Meanwhile, Fluttershy follows after the three predators.
With their catch still uneaten, the three hungry T. rexes head off back the way they came.
"They're probably looking for a secluded place to devour the Edmontosaurus," Fluttershy speculates as she keeps her distance while following them. "And we just can’t afford to lose them. I don’t want to go back to Prehistoric Park empty-handed."
Time: Present Day
Location: Prehistoric Park
Mission Log: Day 5
Days Until Meteor Impact: 0
The Ornithomimus' hisses and squawks ring out as they run about their new home. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, the head of Park Security, and some staff managed to wrangle and herd them into a pen. The five Edmontosaurus that had come through with them were back at the holding facility, where they will stay for the time being.
Back at Prehistoric Park, Applejack and Head of Park Security Rainbow Dash are trying to ease the flock of highly strung Ornithomimus into 21st-century life.
With the last of the Ornithomimus running through the gate, Rainbow Dash quickly closes and locks it. Once she does, she and Applejack look on to admire the flock of ostrich-like dinosaurs.
"Alright, there," Rainbow Dash says. "They're still a bit stressed out from the rescue Flutters did, they're just walking around and around the perimeter fence. Bet they're checking out their new home. It'll be alright."
The Ornithomimus, meanwhile, are doing just that. While some are standing in place, taking in everything around them and comprehending everything happening, the rest are roaming around to ensure they're safe.
"I'm not gonna feed ‘em until tomorrow, though," Applejack states. "Just let ‘em settle in a bit."
Back in Cretaceous Montana, the injured female T. rex and her young are headed up a hillside with their kill.
Fluttershy’s still tracking the T. rexes.
Not far behind them, Fluttershy quietly follows the three tyrannosaurs. Throughout the trek, she's witnessed the two juveniles running around and snapping at one another playfully, their playful chirps and hisses, and their mother's pained grunts. The adult female's limping has also gotten worse. Killing the Edmontosaurus and carrying its carcass has put a lot of strain on her injured leg.
She's almost on her last legs. Moving so slowly now, Fluttershy’s had a chance to catch up.
After traveling for so long, with each passing second making Fluttershy more and more anxious, the three finally reached their destination. The female drops the kill on the ground before she and her young begin to dig in. Not too far away, Fluttershy hides behind a fallen log.
"It's been a long climb, but worth it. She was badly injured but got her young to aid her in her hunt. Paleontologists have long suspected that dinosaurs showed parental care, but those two are too old to receive much care from their mother. Normally, they would hunt animals like Ornithomimus. However, juveniles may have aided their parents in hunts from time to time. In return, they're allowed to indulge in the kills made and receive protection inside their parent's territory until they're old enough to establish one of their own," Fluttershy theorizes as she watches the three feed on the Edmontosaurus. "And for us, it's fantastic. We can get a whole family of T. rex back to Prehistoric Park."
But Fluttershy’s optimism is short-lived.
A series of loud hisses echo through the forest as Fluttershy and the family of three turn to see the three sub-adult male T. rexes have returned. They have been starving since arriving in this territory, and after a failed hunt a couple of days ago, the smell of a fresh kill has drawn them here. The adult female hisses aggressively at the three while the two juveniles hide in the forest. The trio moves closer toward the female, but their eyes are on the carcass. The male in the center lunges toward the carcass, but the female slams her head into his to force him back. The young male hisses at her while she releases a loud grumble reminiscent of a crocodile's.
"Those three males really want that carcass," Fluttershy states. "And the young are hiding. If the three see them, they could be in trouble. There's direct fossil evidence that T. rex was cannibalistic."
The young trio, realizing that going for the carcass is not an open option, moves forward to fight the adult female. The female is nearly twice their weight, is much stronger, and has more experience. However, despite being half her size, the young trio outnumber her, and due to her injury, the odds are a bit more favorable to them. Had she been completely healthy, they wouldn't dare try her. One of the males moves up and gets right in her face, which she responds by snapping at him. He dodges the attack as his brother on the right charges at her and snaps at her neck. She avoids the attack in time and quickly bites onto his neck. However, before she can bite down harder, the other brother on her left rams into her side, hitting her wounded leg in the process and causing her to let go of her attacker. The female staggers back in pain but still holds her ground as the trio moves in on her. She lets out another angered grumble before she snaps at the one in the center, forcing him back, before turning her attention to the one on the right. The young male backs away from her, but his brothers quickly move in. The female hisses at them, causing them to stop in place and hiss back. Unfortunately, this allowed the other brother to quickly bite down on her neck. She shakes her head and neck in an attempt to break his hold. The young male struggles to keep hold of her, but he's slowly losing it. However, the other two come in and ram into her side. This frees the female from his jaws, but it also causes her to hit her head on a tree hard. The impact stuns her, allowing the two smaller of the trio to rush in and knock her to the ground, which allows the third and larger brother to rush in and bite down on her neck.
With a bite of 34,000 Newtons, the strongest of any dinosaurs, the mother seems to be done for and…
BOOM… BOOM…
Hold on… he’s backing off.
The eldest brother let go of the mother Rex and stepped back as more thuds were heard; he and his siblings almost had a look of complete regret on their faces. For the vibrations sounded just like… footsteps.
BOOM… BOOM…
Fluttershy took notice of this and turned towards the direction the sub-adults were looking at, and at that moment, they saw why the rexes were so terrified…
If there’s one thing a T. rex is afraid of, it's another bigger T. rex.
Another male rex has arrived. His body is darker in color and scars cover his body; the most prominent being a healed gash on his leg and the tip of his tail missing. And he can see the juveniles. However, he’s not another rival... Dad has returned to his family.
When Dad sees what has happened in his absence… All Hell is about to break loose!
The eldest brother initially roared to try and scare away the super-predator, but it was already too late as the father let out a thunderous growling hiss.
The eldest, foolishly deciding to risk it all, charged at the carnivore, but the more experienced rex sidestepped and caught the rival carnivore in his jaws as it squirmed around to try to free itself. Fluttershy cringed in pain as she heard the rex bellow in pain and heard its bones cracking as the Tyrannosaurus slowly closed his jaws shut. The young male struggles, but it's not enough as the older male bites as hard as he can, crushing his throat. The eldest brother lets out one last wheezing hiss before his body goes completely limp. With one swing of his head, the tyrannosaur tossed the mangled corpse of the rival to the feet of its brethren. The tyrannosaur then let out a low, growling hiss as the blood of his victim dripped from his thick fangs like a venomous snake.
The very sight of their own brother’s death horrified the two remaining subadults as the father gave the two a piercing glare that said one thing: Leave…NOW!!!
He watched his rivals whimper and flee in a panic, rivals that gave him and his family so much trouble the past week, flee like cockroaches from a light.
The adult male soon turned to the female as he nuzzled her snout and tried to help her stand up using his bulky body, the female using what little strength slowly got back up on her two feet, although the male was large, the female was taller than him in height. The two juveniles came out of hiding and warbled to greet them. They stayed in her territory solely because she offered protection from intruders. And now thanks to their dad, their chance for survival has increased.
But all of that is about to change forever…
The meteor is now careening towards Earth's surface.
Hundreds of miles away, the meteor has finally entered the Earth's atmosphere at 45,000 miles per hour.
The sound of the meteor rushing through the sky catches the attention of Fluttershy and the T. rex family, who look toward the sky; the tyrannosaurs in surprise, Fluttershy in shock and horror. Fluttershy can barely see a small glimpse of the meteor's burning tail as it careens towards the planet's surface.
The sonic boom it creates is one of the loudest noises the world has ever known.
Indeed it was, and Fluttershy covered her ears to block the sound as the loud boom echoed across the world. In minutes, the meteor finally crashed into the Yucatán Peninsula.
As it strikes the Yucatán Peninsula, it causes an explosion ten billion times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. It releases a blast front moving at a hundred times the speed of sound. This devastation is just the start. The cloud of ash will soar into the sky, and molten rock will start raining down, igniting global wildfires. And as it mushrooms out, it will engulf the entire world in a blanket of darkness. Earthquakes and tsunamis of enormous magnitude will devastate the lands, killing billions of lives. Any of the lucky few that survive will face complete darkness, minimal food, poisoned water, and freezing temperatures for the next two to three years. All this is just minutes away. Fluttershy will have to think fast.
Hurrying as fast as she can, Fluttershy sets up the Time Portal. Her only hope is to save the family, who are panicking at all the noise quickly approaching.
"Has anyone got any food, anything that smells?!" Fluttershy desperately yells out. "We need the odor to entice the T. rex juveniles through the Time Portal! And if they follow, their parents will do the same! I just hope we can make it!"
The meteor's blast wave is moving ever closer as animals of all kinds—pterosaurs, marine reptiles, dinosaurs, and the future surviving lizards, turtles, crocodilians, snakes, birds, the only dinosaurs to survive, and the mammals that will one day dominate the world—flee and/or hide from the incoming danger. Fluttershy, meanwhile, grabs a sandwich from her bag. It has pieces of turkey meat, and Fluttershy hopes it will be enough. She quickly but carefully moves toward the two juveniles, waving the sandwich in front of them as their parents watched, having never seen these foreign creatures before. And it carried some strange thing that smelled a lot like... food!
"This has to work; I've only got minutes or maybe seconds left. They must be curious about the meaty smell of the sandwich. Come on," she exclaims to the two young tyrannosaurs. "But they're more likely to lunge at me!" One of the juveniles snaps at the sandwich, but Fluttershy backs up before it can get it. "Come on! You've gotta come; we've got to get you back! That's it; come on! Yes!" Fluttershy then runs toward the Portal as the two juveniles chase after her, their parents not far behind to protect their offspring.
The blast wave is now less than a minute away from hitting them. Fluttershy activates the Time Portal and rushes through. However, the adult and juvenile T. rexes stop right at the Portal. They're unsure of what to do. On the one hand, they could follow that strange creature through the strange mist, but on the other, a big loud blast was coming their way. They look back at the forest, each other, and the subadult’s body. They now have one split second to decide: stay and risk the danger or risk running through.
The blast arrives, and the sky goes dark.
Time: Present Day
Location: Prehistoric Park
Mission Log: Day 5
On the other side of the Portal, back in Prehistoric Park, Fluttershy has already come through. Her friends, her team, and many of the Park's staff have been waiting for her. Fluttershy doesn't pay them attention as she turns back toward the Time Portal, hoping that the T. rexes will come through. Everyone watches the Portal anxiously. Several quiet moments pass by as Fluttershy‘s fears begin to take over her mind. However, they begin to vanish as a familiar warping sound comes from the Time Portal. In just seconds, the two juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex burst through the Portal, followed by their bellowing parents.
"YEAH!" Everyone shouts in excitement. Fluttershy runs toward the gate, telling them to open it. Once she's through, she joins her school buddies.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie exclaims happily.
"You got a whole family!" Twilight exclaims in awe. "Our first T. rex!"
Fluttershy has finally managed to rescue T. rex from extinction.
The four rexes then run toward the holding pens, with the gate closing behind them. They don't know it yet, but their lives are going to change forever and for the better.
After all the excitement, the staff gets to work, making the Park's four arrivals, both young and old, feel more comfortable.
The T. rex family is now safely in the observation pen. Sunset’s ensuring they're in good health before being taken to their permanent enclosure.
Sunset peers through the gap to check on the quartet. They have been here for just over an hour, yet are surprisingly calm. Up above, four keepers are carrying two large chunks of meat to feed the juveniles. Once they are in position, they drop them into the pen. The meat catches the two's attention, and they move to feed as their parents rest and watch.
"They look a little undernourished, but I'm sure we'll be able to sort them out. And I’m hoping once we separate the parents, I can treat the mother with her wounds. They're eating well. They're not even halfway grown, but they're still so powerful, aren't they?" Sunset watches as the two hiss at each other as they each grab their chunk of meat. "They're cool, aren't they?"
Prehistoric Park is now home to its first-ever dinosaurs, and Fluttershy wants to check in on some of the most recent ones.
Nearby 'Triceratops and Edmontosaurus Creek,' which had received its new inclusions not too long ago, Rarity is leading Fluttershy and Twilight toward another enclosure. This one had some forest but was more open. It was also connected to the same creek as Theo, Edmonton, and Edmonton's new herd mates had in their enclosure. However, this enclosure is home to the Park's more hardheaded newcomers.
Fluttershy walks up to the fence and looks over to see the herd of seven Pachycephalosaurus she had rescued.
After the pachycephalosaurs had arrived, Rarity wasted no time finding them a home. Luckily, she and Applejack had a few enclosures built around the creek where the Triceratops and Edmontosaurus now call home. Many species of prehistoric wildlife require specific habitats to keep them satisfied. Luckily for them, Fluttershy had only brought a few species in.
"This enclosure is perfect. Pachycephalosaurus are headbutters, and they need room to run around and headbutt. Great job, Rarity."
"Thanks, Twilight. Should I be concerned about the headbutting?"
"I don't think so," Fluttershy assures her. "Headbutting, while it can be used in fighting, it's more likely to help establish dominance and maintain their social structure."
"Ah, alright then."
"I would be careful, though," Twilight states. "Fights and accidents could happen, so it should be important to keep an eye on them so that we can help avoid any serious injury."
One of the Pachycephalosaurus looks over and sees the three. It gets spooked when it sees Fluttershy, somehow recognizing her. It lets out a call, alarming the rest. The alpha male gets in front and lowers his head a bit, hoping that he'll be able to intimidate these strange creatures this time.
"I don't think they're happy with us yet. Let's leave them alone for now."
"Good idea. Thankfully, they haven't caused too much trouble."
"Well, that's good."
The alpha male watches as the three walk away. Once they are out of sight, the rest of the herd returns to feeding and exploring their new home. The alpha male, however, stays alert. Despite how calm and peaceful this new place is, he's not yet accepted it as a new home. It may take some time for him to get used to it. For now, his job is to ensure that his herd is kept safe.
Fluttershy’s dream of having a park full of prehistoric creatures she's saved from extinction is beginning to take shape.
The flock of Ornithomimus are currently roaming around their enclosure.
The Ornithomimus are getting used to their new home.
Theo, Edmonton, and Edmonton's herd are eating, drinking, wallowing in the creek, and wandering around their new home.
The Triceratops and Edmontosaurus have adapted well and are coexisting peacefully.
The pachycephalosaurs are still showing caution toward their new environment.
The Pachycephalosaurus are slowly getting used to their new place.
Finally, we take a look at the Park's newest enclosure. After months of building, the enclosure for the Tyrannosaurus rex was completed and given the name 'T. Rex Hill.' Not only is it completed, it's already occupied.
And the T. rex family has been put into their new enclosure.
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight have driven down to the enclosure to check and see it for themselves and see how the four new tyrannosaurs are getting on. Applejack joins them to show them the enclosure.
"This is fantastic; well done, Applejack," Fluttershy congratulates the Western headkeeper.
"Thanks, sugarcube. Though it seems a bit big for the juveniles."
"It's overkill now when they're only two tons, but when they're bigger, it's a perfect enclosure just like how it is for the parents," Twilight says, very happy with this enclosure. "And have you seen the juveniles at all?"
"Not since I put them in there; they disappeared off the face of the Earth," Applejack answers as she and the other three girls look into the enclosure, trying to see if they can spot them.
"There's places for them to hide; they're not gonna be stressed," Twilight says before she spots them. "And look, there!" She points to the two juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex running out of the trees as their parents slept in the shade of the forest. The two have been exploring their new home ever since Applejack moved them in. Despite the strange new environment, they're all getting used to it surprisingly fast.
"Why don't you give them some names to identify them?" Rainbow Dash suggests to Fluttershy.
"I've done that," She responds, excited to tell them.
"Ok, what?"
"Matilda for the female and then Terrance for the male. I haven’t decided yet what to call the mother, but the father looks like a Hank to me," Fluttershy tells them. "What do you think, Twilight?"
"Terrance, Matilda, and Hank, those are nice names."
"It's not bad; it's kind of cute for the little ones, really," Rainbow Dash says.
"I'll tell you what, they're not going to stay cute for long."
Twilight’s right. The juveniles are currently in the stage of their lives where they are transitioning from a fast and gracile build to a massive and robust one. In just a few years, they will be as big as the sub-adult males that nearly orphaned them, and in about ten years or so, they will reach full size at ten tons or more, turning Terrance and Matilda into the largest and most powerful killing machines to walk the Earth in 66 million years… just like Mom and Dad. Let's hope Prehistoric Park knows what it's getting itself into.
Next Time
Next time, Fluttershy sets her sights on a mammoth from the ice age. But she's going to have to overcome the cold climate and a hostile reception. Managing the prehistoric creatures Fluttershy brings back will definitely not be as easy as they first thought.
There is something missing from our world; the amazing animals that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?
We're going back in time on a safari with a difference as animal enthusiast Fluttershy plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. Her plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
Her next adventure is into the Ice Age, where she'll come face to face with a woolly rhino, survive a showdown with a colossal bear, and solve the mystery of what is killing some of the last mammoths on Earth.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.
A new day begins at Prehistoric Park. It has been over a month since Fluttershy’s rescue mission to the late Cretaceous. Things have been going well, and everyone couldn't be happier.
Prehistoric Park is starting to come to life. Amongst the hills and valleys of this huge reserve, dinosaurs are getting used to their new surroundings.
At the creek, Theo the Triceratops and Edmonton the Edmontosaurus and his herd are thriving in their new home. The nearby herd of Pachycephalosaurus has finally accepted their new home and are thriving as well. The Ornithomimus flock mostly watches the staff walk by their enclosure.
One day, Fluttershy hopes to breed extinct animals in captivity. But for now, she's starting by only bringing a few of each species back to see how they adapt to the 21st century.
Speaking of Fluttershy, she is now beginning her day by driving down to one of the Park's enclosures: 'T-Rex Hill.'
The Park's latest newcomers seem to be settling in well.
"Alright, stop right there," Twilight shouts to the man in the truck. "Alright, keep the tension in the back."
Fluttershy arrives at the enclosure just in time because Twilight and a few other keepers are preparing two large pieces of meat for the residents inside. Recently, a large crane was placed just outside of the enclosure. Twilight installed it to allow easier feeding, especially since she and a few other keepers have been working hard to build a positive relationship with the predators. However, it has proven quite difficult, which was no surprise to anyone at the Park. They all hope that, in time, the T. rexes and the other dinosaurs at Prehistoric Park will become comfortable with their keepers and work with them willingly. Until then, this is the best they can do.
"What an amazing contraption," Fluttershy says, pleased with the crane. "How are they doing?"
"Oh, not too bad, but they're big beasts with big appetites," Twilight answers. "Get that line under tension."
The keepers hook the first hunk of meat to the crane and lift it over the fence.
Inventor and former Crystal Prep Academy student Twilight Sparkle is facing her first big challenge.
Terrance and Matilda rush out from the trees, hearing all the commotion and smelling the meat. They stop briefly to examine the strange yet peaceful creatures preparing their food. Matilda snaps at her brother, and he hisses at her in response.
Keeping the Park's two juvenile T. rex happy.
When Fluttershy found them, they had nearly lost their mother, Elika, after she was almost killed in a fight, that is until Hank arrived.
Their mother manages to free herself from the jaws of one of the sub-adult males, but it causes her to smash her head hard into a tree. The impact stuns her, allowing the three sub-adults to knock her down and just about to kill her when the reverberating footsteps of Hank fill the air. When the father arrived and saw what had happened, he went into a furious rage and slaughtered the eldest sub-adult, causing the remaining two to make a hasty retreat.
Fluttershy managed to save them all from certain death just seconds before a massive meteorite hit.
The meteor crashes into the Earth, but before the blast wave reaches them, Terrance, Matilda, and their parents rush through the Time Portal, taking them to the safety of Prehistoric Park.
"Take it away," Twilight orders the men, who lift the meat over the fence with the crane. "Yep, alright, bring it around."
Feeding the T. rex means meat and plenty of it. When they arrived at the Park, the juveniles were half-starved. But they've been making up for it ever since.
Upon seeing the meat rising up and over the fence, the T. rex siblings rush toward the fence as their parents watched and relaxed in the shade, having already been fed. Before these creatures arrived, the juveniles struggled to survive in their native environment. After reaching adolescence, their mother and father never fed them and rarely shared their food with them despite being allowed to live in their territory for safety. They hunted animals such as Pachycephalosaurus, Ornithomimus, and Leptoceratops, which they were relatively good at hunting. But as they got older and grew bigger, it started becoming harder and harder for them to catch prey. They only managed to survive for so long because they had each other. They had no other siblings to rely on, and now all they have left was each other, as well as Mom and Dad.
"I'm not telling Twilight a thing about T. rex feeding habits; she'd be so upset."
T. rex juveniles grow incredibly fast. Terrance and Matilda will add hundreds of pounds to their weight every year until they grow to the length of a double-decker bus and weigh ten tons.
Speaking of which, Terrance and Matilda have arrived at the feeding point. Both are attempting to reach the meat that is now hanging over their heads. They both snap and stand upright, which amuses everyone there.
"They're really hungry, aren't they?" Fluttershy says to Twilight. "Look at them. Reaching for that."
The meat is then dropped, and both Tyrannosaurs begin to dig in.
"Woah!"
"You see those teeth? They've got blade-shaped teeth that are perfect for grabbing hold of smaller prey animals like Pachycephalosaurus and Ornithomimus, and they're just slicing off chunks of flesh; no wonder they eat so much." Fluttershy explains as she, Twilight, and the team watch them feed. "I mean, they're polishing that off."
Matilda hisses at her brother, warning him to back off. Normally, they've been able to share before, but each portion they've received has only been enough for either her or him. Granted, they both receive their own portions, but it has caused some competition between them. Matilda has been getting the first chunk of meat delivered since she and her brother arrived, showing she is more dominant than Terrance.
"I wouldn't like to be in there, I'll tell you for sure."
Matilda drags her portion away as Terrance follows after. The team begins to load the next portion of meat for him as he becomes agitated. He calms down and eagerly waits once he sees his portion being prepared.
While Prehistoric Park is built with extinct creatures in mind, it is home to modern-day species. Some are native species that migrated or were already established in the region, while the rest were brought in. One of them is a herd of African bush elephants. African bush elephants are endangered, and the park has allowed the herd to reside here. They are cared for by the Park's staff and have formed a strong bond with their caretakers. Currently, the herd is enjoying themselves with mud and dust baths to help keep cool in the intense heat. Fluttershy has come to spend some time with the elephants, not only because she loves them but also because she is excited.
Now Fluttershy’s planning her next adventure. She’s decided to rescue one of the most famous of all extinct animals: the woolly mammoth, a long-lost relative of modern-day elephants.
"I adore elephants," Fluttershy says. "And, of course, they have a long history. There were many different species of the elephant family in the past, such as the deinotheres, gomphotheres, stegodonts, mastodons, and mammoths. People think they have the same family life, and the same social history. But what I want to do is travel back in time and find out whether that's true, and maybe even bring a woolly mammoth or two back to Prehistoric Park."
Fluttershy then turns her attention to the elephant she has been petting. "Would you like to meet a woolly mammoth? You would, wouldn't you?"
Fluttershy is now walking into her office and pets a Sulcata tortoise along the way before entering and picking a veiled chameleon up from the phone on her desk.
As with any conservation project, it's the most endangered species Fluttershy wants to rescue. So she's got to travel back to the time that mammoths were on their last legs. That was at the end of the last Ice Age. Freezing plains were home to huge herds of mammoths. But 11,000 years ago, it all changed. Their world was turned upside down because of global warming. The ice was disappearing, and so were the mammoths.
Fluttershy is now back to the wall where the map of late Cretaceous Earth was hung, but now there is a map of Earth at the end of the Pleistocene.
"This is at the end of the last Ice Age," Fluttershy says. "And what was happening, it was still cold, but the ice sheets were receding northwards, and the mammoths were going there too. The last mammoths lived on the islands of St. Paul in Alaska and Wrangel Island in Russia. The St. Paul mammoths died out around 5,600 years ago, and the Wrangel mammoths around 4,000 years ago, around the time the pyramids of Egypt were constructed. As much as I would love to save those mammoths, both populations were too small to create healthy ones, and they died out due to a lack of resources and incredibly high amounts of inbreeding. I would love to breed extinct animals in captivity one day, but I need individuals of each species to be physically and genetically healthy. Which is why I'm going to search for the last of the mainland mammoths, and according to Twilight’s research, the last surviving ones were found here, just east of the Urals in Siberia."
Fluttershy grabs the gear she needs for her mission and gives the chameleon a little pet before leaving her office.
By going back to the brink of extinction, she’ll see for herself what killed off these magnificent beasts.
The Time Portal activates and is set to the time and location Fluttershy and her team are heading.
And get her chance to save the woolly mammoth. The Time Portal is set to take her back to the last Ice Age 11,000 years ago.
Fluttershy slides on her dense winter coat. This may be the coldest mission Fluttershy has ever done, but she knows it will be worth it. With everything ready, Fluttershy and her team walk through the Time Portal.
Cold and white. That is the first thing one would notice if they were to travel to Siberia at the end of the Pleistocene. Afterward, one would notice how quiet it is. Aside from the chilling breeze and birds off in the distance, it is almost dead silent—a far cry from what was once a thriving biome.
These are all that Fluttershy and her team noticed upon arrival. They knew it wouldn't be a vast grassland filled with life, but they didn't expect it to be so quiet. It was hauntingly quiet. Despite this, though, they got to work immediately. There had to be mammoths out here somewhere, but with how quiet it was, Fluttershy and the others decided to split up. They all hopped on snowmobiles and rode off into the wilderness.
After several hours of searching, Fluttershy did not spot a mammoth or any animal other than some small birds. Fluttershy hopes she and her team can find at least one mammoth out here somewhere; if not, they'll have to travel elsewhere. After a while, he spots a forest off in the distance. While mammoths aren't adapted to forested environments, it was still worth exploring.
Here in the Ice Age, the warming of the climate has already changed this world. What once was rich open grassland covered in grazing mammoths has now been invaded by dense forests.
Fluttershy drives through the forest, avoiding trees left and right. It will be tricky to find even something as big as a mammoth in this dense habitat.
This is no place for a mammoth. Finding the last ones alive on the mainland will not be easy.
"We've gone for miles, and this forest just seems limitless," Fluttershy says as she hops off her snowmobile to look around. "And, you know, obviously, the climate's warming. And weevil beetles can survive off pine needles, but a six-ton mammoth, no way there's just not enough nutrition."
It's this lack of good food that has brought the mammoth population to its knees.
Fluttershy hops back on the snowmobile and continues her search. She keeps looking around, but all she sees are trees upon trees.
It looks like there's nothing but trees here. But at last, Fluttershy finds something to break the monotony.
A large rock formation catches her attention, and as she pulls up, Fluttershy spots a cave entrance. While her chances of finding a mammoth inside are nonexistent, Fluttershy’s curiosity gets the better of her. She hops off her snowmobile and carefully moves up to the mouth of the cave.
A prehistoric cave, he can't resist exploring.
Fluttershy slowly enters the cave but only gets a few steps in when a loud grunt and heavy footsteps force her to back out.
"No sudden moves," Fluttershy whispers calmly but nervously. She takes a few more steps back before a massive brown bear walks out of the cave. It huffs and lets out a roar at its cave's intruder. Fluttershy, in response, hurries down the path quickly. Running away from bears is a terrible idea, but humans were still considered regular prey to many predators, including bears, at the end of the last Ice Age. Because of this, Fluttershy doesn't have much of a choice.
Fluttershy has chosen the wrong creature to disturb.
The bear walks further out as Fluttershy hurries down. It lets out a few more huffs before standing tall on its hind legs. It lets out a growl, causing Fluttershy to not pay attention to where she's stepping, leading to her slipping and falling into the snow-covered ground.
Brown bears stand over eight feet tall, weighing up to half a ton, and are generally more muscular than most other bears.
Fluttershy rushes into the forest, but the bear gives chase. After her first encounter with the pack of three Tyrannosaurus rex, Fluttershy had been hoping she wouldn't end up in another similar situation. While she's now dealing with a bear instead of a six-ton theropod, the situation is much worse. The average human can run up to 15 miles per hour, but brown bears can more than double that at 35. Fluttershy‘s best goal is to run into thicker patches of the forest to help escape it, a task far easier said than done.
"Get moving!" Fluttershy shouts as she runs for her life. The bear continues its chase as it begins to close in on Fluttershy. Fluttershy can hear the bear's panting breaths and footfalls getting closer and closer. "Run, run! Drop the camera; move, move, move! MOVE!"
The cameraman drops the camera, which causes the bear to stop and swipe at it as it lets out another growl.
Brown bears may be huge, but luckily, they're poor tree climbers.
Sometime later, the bear ceased its chase. The cameraman collects the thankfully undamaged camera and searches for Fluttershy. For a brief moment, Fluttershy is nowhere to be found.
"There you are; I'm up here."
High up in a nearby tree is Fluttershy. She managed to escape the bear by climbing up as high as possible.
"I'm sorry about that," Fluttershy apologizes as she descends the tree. "I’d completely forgotten that they would be here. But what an exciting find."
Once on the ground, Fluttershy starts moving back in the direction she just ran from. While it seems ridiculous to go back, her snowmobile is back at the cave. It would also allow her to get a better look at the bear.
"We've got to go and see it," Fluttershy says. "And as long as we don't startle it, it won't charge again, and we can watch it foraging."
A short walk later, Fluttershy is now back at the cave, and she's not the first. The bear is walking back up the path to the cave's entrance. It briefly stops and observes its surroundings, making sure that there are no other intruders that could disturb it again.
"There he is," Fluttershy points out. "I can tell he's a male brown bear. The females have much smaller proportions. I'm certain he was hibernating in that cave. And what he's doing is packing in anything he can consume, like fish, grass, roots, small animals, and berries in early spring. They're not very carnivorous bears; they'll feed on anything. As for hunting, he wasn't doing that. We disturbed him; that's why he chased us. And he is massive, absolutely enormous. Typically, brown bears in the 21st Century are smaller than this, but that's due to overhunting and habitat loss. Here in the Pleistocene, they can average out at massive sizes. But I wouldn't be surprised if he had a cave bear ancestor. Cave bears are a very close cousin of brown bears and were even larger than this one here. Even now, at the end of the Pleistocene, they're extinct, but recent genetic studies have found that some brown bears have cave bear DNA in their genes. That means that, on rare occasions, both brown bears and cave bears interbred."
The bear, finishing its survey, begins to walk back into the cave.
"Brown bears are going to be just fine."
Brown bears are still alive in the 21st Century. While some subspecies and populations are endangered, they have the widest range of all eight bear species and the highest population overall, being found in Europe, Asia, and North America. Fluttershy has no reason to bring this one back to Prehistoric Park. So, it's best just to let sleeping bears lie. It's time to get back to the business of finding a mammoth.
Once the bear enters its cave, Fluttershy quickly hops on her snowmobile and drives off, both to get as far away from the cave as possible and to continue the search for a woolly mammoth.
It has been some time since her bear encounter, and Fluttershy has yet to find a mammoth or even a sign that one is here. This lack of progress is making Fluttershy more concerned by the minute. Riding around on a snowmobile can cover ground quickly, but it only helps a little in a search from Fluttershy’s perspective. It's time for a change in tactics, and a nearby outcropping is perfect.
Fluttershy decides the best way to spot a mammoth is to get up high to scout the terrain.
It's a bit of a climb, but Fluttershy manages to reach the top. Once she does, what she sees around him only makes her feel disappointed.
"This is so disappointing. I come back 11,000 years aiming for mammoth country, and all I can see is trees, trees; thousands of them, as far as the eye can see. Mammoths, they need plains and grasslands, and there's none of that anywhere here."
Fluttershy pulls out her binoculars and surveys the land around her, hoping that she can spot something worthwhile.
The changing habitat is not the only reason Fluttershy is struggling to find a mammoth. She knows there's another factor that has driven them to the brink of extinction: mammoths were hunted by Ice Age man.
During the Pleistocene, humans hunted mammoths. They used the mammoths for food and to make shelter, clothing, tools, and other materials. Like elephants in the 21st Century, humans are the only species that pose a threat to adult mammoths and even herds. From our modern perspective, it seems cruel and unjustified. But to our Ice Age ancestors, it was necessary for survival. It was a dangerous and unforgiving world for the mammoths and humans.
Fluttershy continues to survey the terrain but sees only trees, trees, and more trees. After several minutes, she spots something promising.
"I think our only chance; there's a break over there, just at the base of the mountain," She points out. "There may be some grassland, and maybe we can find them there."
Fluttershy descends from the outcropping, but something in the snow catches her eye once she reaches the bottom.
And then a clue a mammoth might not be too far away.
"This is the most exciting find yet," Fluttershy states as she digs out what she spotted, which resembles a flute. "I just saw it gleaming out of the corner of my eye. This has been carved from a mammoth tusk." She wipes the snow off it before blowing into it, releasing a brief yet beautiful sound. "Some kind of instrument. And if this hasn't been here too long, the hunters could still be around. And if they're around, the mammoths could be too." Now hopeful, Fluttershy heads back to her snowmobile to continue the search. She also brings the flute with her since it was either lost or abandoned; it wouldn't cause any harm in keeping it.
Once back on her snowmobile, Fluttershy drives into the forest, straight toward the breaking he spotted earlier. She still keeps a lookout for a mammoth or a sign of one.
And before long, there's a sign that, at last, Fluttershy’s getting… warmer.
As she drives through the forest, Fluttershy spots something on the ground. She stops just in time to get a better look at it. What it is is the best sign she could find.
"Quick here; look," Fluttershy exclaims as she hops off her snowmobile. "Ha ha! At last, vital clues. Look at these massive footprints. They can only be a woolly mammoth." She states as he examines the tracks. "Bigger than that one there; this is the front foot going that way. And look at this," she says as she spots something else on the ground along the tracks. She kneels on the ground to show a brown blob before her and picks a ball of it up. "A concrete clue, at last! Mammoth dung! Looks gross, but it's not. The plant vegetation goes through the stomach virtually unchanged. They're useless at digesting plant cellulose. Cows can do it; elephants can’t. That's why they have to feed for 16 hours a day." She then pulls off her left glove to perform a rather... interesting test. "And the crucial thing is…" She sticks her finger into the dung. "It's still warm! So this is fresh; the mammoth can't be far away!" She then places the dung back on the ground, but once she does, Fluttershy goes silent after something catches her attention. "Shh! Shh!" She silently orders. Suddenly, a series of trumpeting sounds echo through the forest. "I can hear something. From over there, I think." She points in the direction she believes they are coming from.
Fluttershy hops back onto her snowmobile and follows the sounds. She can tell that the sounds are very elephant-like, which means that the only animal out here that can make them is a mammoth. Filled with excitement, Fluttershy can’t wait to finally find one.
But she's in for a shock.
Fluttershy exits the tree line and spots the source of the call: a woolly mammoth right on the other side of a small river.
"At last, mammoth!" Fluttershy says happily. She hops off her snowmobile and begins walking slowly toward it. However, as she moves closer, she spots something big on the ground that the mammoth is hovering over. "And there could be more than one." She pulls out her binoculars and sees that there is another mammoth, but it is lying on the ground, surrounded by branches. "There's two. There's one down, and it looks like there's a mammoth trapped or something there; the second one's not moving at all." She continues to watch from her position while the mammoth hovering over the other makes sounds of desperation. Fluttershy has a bad feeling about what is going on. "What we'll do, we'll try to get in closer. There's something not right." She hops back on her snowmobile and drives it closer to the river's edge, and Fluttershy sees that her bad feeling is spot on.
It looks like Ice Age hunters have beaten her to it.
Even from her side of the river, Fluttershy can see that the branches are spears embedded in the downed mammoth's body, with blood surrounding it. She slowly gets off the snowmobile and watches and listens to the other mammoth desperately trying to wake the other.
"I thought as much," Fluttershy sadly says. "This is a killing field. The hunters dug a pit and covered it with snow; the mammoth fell in, and they speared her to death. There's another one staying by her dead herdmate. This could be one of the last mammoths remaining on mainland Siberia."
In another desperate effort, the standing mammoth releases a series of grumbles, trying to entice her herdmate to wake up, but anything she tries will not work.
"Listen," Fluttershy says. "Oh, that is heartbreaking. She's making these grumbling sounds; they do that with their stomach. She's trying to communicate with her dead herdmate; it's a stomach rumble, which they do. Of course, she's not going to get a response." But Fluttershy sees that the living mammoth is not doing so well. "And she looks sick. Head held low, ears close against her head."
Fluttershy starts to move toward the mammoth, who stumbles a bit. Her legs shake, ready to give out at any moment. As she struggles to stay up, she sees Fluttershy approaching. While Fluttershy is there to help her, she doesn't see it that way. Humans killed her companion and many others throughout her life. To her, humans are always a sign of danger, and Fluttershy is no exception despite the fact she is not carrying a spear or any weapon on him. She wants to charge at her but is too weak to do it. She just hopes that she can intimidate her enough to scare her away.
"Hello there, sweetheart," Fluttershy says gently to her. "You're alright. Okay, okay." Then, at that moment, her legs finally gave out. She collapses to the ground and releases a weak trumpet. Fluttershy watches in heartbreak as the mammoth's weakness finally takes hold of her. Fluttershy slowly walks in front of her and crouches down to her level. "We've got two females. The dainty, straight tusks; bull mammoths have much bigger tusks with a corkscrew curve. And what's happened is that this one stayed behind to defend her herdmate, but she's been injured as well."
The mammoth grumbles, warning Fluttershy not to get any closer. Fluttershy keeps her distance but doesn't back away.
"Hello, girl," she speaks gently to her. However, she is not happy with her being here and attempts to get up and swing at her but utterly fails at lifting herself even a foot off the ground. "Oh, she's so weak. She can hardly lift her trunk."
Fluttershy gets up and moves toward the dead mammoth. She sees just how brutal the killing was. Dozens upon dozens of spears are embedded in her lifeless body, and that excludes the sharpened sticks from the pit.
"And it's likely that the one that's been killed is this one's sister." Fluttershy walks around the body, examining it. She understands that humans needed to survive in the Ice Age, but that doesn't make this any less heartbreaking. "Mammoth populations got smaller because of climate change. But it was this that drove them to extinction: overhunting by early humans. The horrifying thing is that they didn't know any better, but we're still doing this sort of thing to rare animals in the 21st Century."
After examining the dead mammoth, Fluttershy walks back toward the weakened one. As she gets closer, she notices a spear on the ground. She picks it up and sees that the tip has been broken off.
"I'm pretty sure this is why she looks so poorly; it's a broken spear," Fluttershy explains. "She was probably defending the one in the pit. She was attacked herself. You can see that there's a wound in the shoulder there, and it's starting to swell. We've got to do something quickly; otherwise, it could flare up to a serious infection."
Fluttershy is faced with a dilemma. Right now, the mammoth is too weak to walk through the time portal. But if she leaves, the hunters could come back to finish her off. Somehow, she needs to get her back on her feet. She calls in his team, who are scouting nearby.
"To all channels, do you read, over?" Fluttershy asks into his two-way radio.
"We read you, Fluttershy, over."
"We've got a mammoth down, a very sick mammoth. She needs rescuing, so if you can get here as soon as you can, please."
"Copy. We'll be there soon."
Time: 21st Century
Location: Prehistoric Park
Back at the Park, Twilight’s busy with problems of her own.
Twilight, at one of the workstations, is exhausted after a long day. However, she's more exhausted from frustration than hard work. Caring for Prehistoric Park's animals, both modern and prehistoric, is not easy. While some are not too difficult, others have proven to be a bit of a challenge.
She’s having trouble looking after some of the dinosaurs Fluttershy has already brought back.
The dinosaurs in question are the Ornithomimus. While they haven't caused issues with Twilight and the staff, they have presented a problem that has made them difficult to care for.
She had decided to treat Ornithomimus like ostriches and put them in a paddock. But they aren't doing well here. They just won't eat the grass.
While Twilight and the staff have been feeding the fleet-footed theropods, they would prefer that they feed on the plants inside their enclosure, like with the Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, and Pachycephalosaurus. Not only would this reduce the amount of feed the Park would need to acquire, but it would also allow the animals to continue expressing natural behaviors. Unfortunately, the paddock they have been staying in, while it provides plenty of open space for them to roam around, is not fulfilling its purpose. Twilight now has to figure something out. After some research, she realized she made a mistake when giving them a new home.
"Well, I thought, 'Well, they look like an ostrich, and they have a mainly vegetarian diet,' so I put them in an ostrich enclosure. Now, that was an easy mistake to make because, although an Ornithomimus might look like and in many ways act like an ostrich's prehistoric cousin, they don't like ostrich feed."
But Twilight noticed that the diet of these dinosaurs is different from their large ratite counterpart.
At the moment, the Ornithomimus are inside a transport truck. The truck itself was inside an enclosure, but not their original one.
"The answer lies in their native habitat," Twilight explains. "Ornithomimus lived in an environment that lacked grass, so they wouldn't be able to digest it like ostriches. They fed on leaves, branches, insects, small animals, and crustaceans, mostly different from an ostrich's diet but somewhat similar to emus and cassowaries. So, I figured they could do better with a habitat with plenty of brush, leaves, and ponds," She gestures toward the pond behind her. The enclosure that Twilight and her team are moving the Ornithomimus into differs from the previous one. It also provides plenty of space for the Ornithomimus to roam and run around, but it also has more bushes, trees, and, most importantly, a pond. "Why don't I give them an enclosure with their own pond? Then maybe they can find their own food."
This is a much better strategy. While paleontologists still debate the diet of Ornithomimus, many agree that they were omnivorous. This enclosure provides plenty of bushes, shrubs, and trees to browse on, and a pond can provide insects, small fish, and lizards. If this enclosure proves to be a success, then Twilight and her friends would need to provide additional feed occasionally.
Twilight‘s team moves a trailer piece to allow the dinosaurs to exit the transport once they're set free. Once it's set in place, they open the door. However, the Ornithomimus don't seem keen on exploring their new home. Twilight walks up the platform and spreads some feed to entice them out.
All she has to do now is to convince them it's a good idea.
"Come on," Twilight gently says to the flock of Ornithomimus. Said flock is nervous about the sudden change. They've only briefly been in this new land, especially compared to their natural environment back in the Cretaceous. There have been so many changes over the past month, and while they've gotten used to it for a bit, they are still a bit stressed out by it all. Nevertheless, Twilight keeps trying to entice them out. "That's it, now. There you go. Come on."
With a loud squawk, the Ornithomimus rushed out at full speed. Twilight manages to get out of the way as the whole flock enters their new enclosure in a panicked frenzy. Twilight stands by and watches the spectacle in amazement.
"Look at them go."
Hopefully, the Ornithomimus will love their new home. If they can calm down enough to find it.
