A week has passed since the Cutie Mark Crusaders got their dinosaurs. They ended up showing them to Twilight, as they said they would. She was fascinated by this. She also scanned them with the Dinodex, and this is what it said for each:
Australovenator. It's named means "southern hunter". Australovenator lived 95 million years ago in Australia during the Late Cretaceous. This dinosaur was taller than a human at almost 7 feet and 20 feet in length. This mid-sized carnivore was actually a distant relative of the more famous Allosaurus, which it has been given the nickname "Polar Allosaur" or "Dwarf Allosaur", since it lived very far south, hence its name, and during this time, Australia was colder and farther south than it is today. Australovenator is light weight for its size, suggesting it could run at fast speeds. Just like Allosaurus, it had serrated teeth, used to shred and rip prey, but it is suggested that it has a weak jaw. Instead, it has powerful arms with sharp claws that were probably used to rip apart and hold struggling prey. Its also suggested its arms were very flexible, so catching prey was easy for this creature.
Majungasaurus. It's name means "Mahajanga lizard". Majungasurus lived 70-66 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous in Madagascar. Majungasaurus was named after the region it was found at, which was Mahajanga Province in northwestern Madagascar. This theropod was large, 28 feet in length and 9 feet tall at the hip. It is considered the largest theropod of the time in the Southern Hemisphere. It lived at the same time as T-Rex, which is why scientists gave it the nickname "T-Rex of the East". There are many similarities between Majungasaurus and T-Rex. One being short, useless limbs, and the other, they were both very powerful predators. But, they were different in structure and species. Majungasaurus is part of a group of theropods known as abelisaurids. These predators lived during the same time as the tyrannosaurs, but they ruled the South, while tyrannosaurs ruled the North. No tyrannosaur has ever been found in the Southern Hemisphere. Also, abelisaurids have a wider jaw and some sort of bony structure on top of their heads, like a horn. Scientists don't know what this horn was used for, but it could've been used for head butting. Majungasaurus has a junior synonym, known as Majungatholus, but it's not used as often. Also, Majungasaurus is one of the first dinosaurs to show cannibalism in its species.
Carcharodontosaurus. It's name means "jagged/sharp toothed lizard". Carcharodontosaurus lived 100-94 million years ago in Africa during the Late Cretaceous. This was one of the larger theropod, measuring 39 to 44 feet in length and almost 16 feet tall. It was still larger than T-Rex, but smaller than Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus. But, surprisingly, it lived in the same habitat and same time as Spinosaurus. So, there was always competition between the two, mainly for food and territory. These confrontations happen mainly during the dry season in Africa, when rivers dry up and Spinosaurus has to look elsewhere for food instead of it's usual food source of fish. Carcharodontosaurus was named for its serrated, knife-like teeth. Like other carnosaurs and unlike tyrannosaurs, these teeth were delicate and not designed to crush bone, but instead were used to slice and cut through flesh, and surprisingly for its size, it did not have a strong bite force, which was only 3,000 pounds per square inch (psi), for its 5 foot skull, which was only 0.3 feet longer (in meters) that that of T-Rex. Carcharodontosaurus also had sharp claws on its three fingered hands that could be used during fights for slashing as they weren't designed to hold onto struggling prey. Besides serrated teeth and sharp claws, Carcharodontosaurus was strong. It could use its brute strength to bring down prey. But, for such a large predator, how would it be able to catch prey. Well, if the element of surprise, wasn't an option or failed, Carcharodontosaurus had a secret weapon. It had special air sacs that aloud it to run for a long amount of time. Yes, just like wolves, this predator used stamina over speed. These air sacs acted almost like a bagpipe. Every time Carcharodontosaurus takes a breath, oxygen is stored in these air sacs that help to keep Carcharodontosaurus keep on going. Added to this, Carcharodontosaurus had a lightweight skeleton. Carcharodontosaurus was quite a formidable predator.
After hearing this, the CMCs were happy to know about their dinosaurs. But, bad things happened afterwards as Spiney soon came. Seeing the Carcharodontosaurus, he immediately became aggressive.
Quickly, Scootaloo and Twilight worked their hardest to stop them before a fight broke out. Carl didn't really want to fight, but Spiney was eager to. However, Spiney was calmed, but he was still on edge.
Winter is drawing near. The trees are starting to turn, and the Running of the Leaves is around the corner.
Most of the dinosaurs have never experienced winter, the cold, or have never seen snow before, as back then, it was mostly hot, humid, or tropical. However, for dinosaurs that lived in the polar regions, it won't be nothing new.
It is the middle of the night, and Allison is sound asleep in the Apple's barn. However, she is awoken as she is having trouble sleeping. She quietly gets up as instinct suddenly kicks in.
She quietly leaves Sweet Apple Acres and continues on a personal quest of her own. She heads for Ponyville. Most of Ponyville is asleep, but not all. Allison quietly continues on.
She suddenly stops in the middle of Ponyville and sniffs the ground as huge footprints are left behind...by those of sauropods, a herd as there are hundreds of tracks together heading in the same direction.
Seeing the direction they lead, Allison follows them. On her way, she passes by Sugarcube Corner.
Delphi is sound asleep next to Pinkie's bed and Pinkie is sound asleep in her bed. Suddenly, Delphi is awoken as she senses a disturbance. She smells the air before getting up and quietly going to the bedroom's window.
She peaks her head out to see Allison walking by. Curious, she quietly sneaks off to follow Allison to see what she's up to.
Allison continues on. On her way to her destination, she passes Rarity's boutique.
Inside, Bruce is asleep on the bottom floor, while Rarity and Opal are upstairs asleep.
Bruce is suddenly hit by a disturbance as his eyes shoot open. He lifts his head up, sniffs the air, and gets up and walks towards the door. Using his horn, like before, he opens the door. He peaks out, only to see Allison.
Confused, he watches as she continues on. Then, he sees Delphi following behind her. He quietly gets up next to Delphi. She almost jumps by his sudden appearance, but she keeps calm.
The two then join each other as they continue to follow Allison.
Allison then passes by Twilight's castle. Spiney is inside asleep, when a disturbance wakes him. However, Alan and Daisy aren't awoken, they just shift. Spiney raises his head up and sniffs the air.
He then slowly and quietly gets up before heading towards the door, trying not to disturb Twilight, Starlight, Spike, Alan, or Daisy. He slowly and quietly opens the castle's doors before exiting the castle.
He then sees Allison passing by, with Bruce and Delphi. He quietly walks up to the two, only to end up scaring them, but they quietly calm down. Then, Spiney joins them and the three continue on.
Allison then passes by Rainbow's house. Since Rampage can't fly, fit into her home, or stand on clouds, she spends most of her time underneath her home at a small hill with a large tree on it.
It provides shade on hot days and a resting place. Just below the hill is a lake where Rainbow will either swim or chillax. Rampage is asleep under her tree on her hill when she is awoken by a disturbance.
She opens her eyes to see Allison, followed by Bruce, Delphi, and Spiney, walking by her. Curious, she gets up and joins them. Luckily, the three see her coming, and there are no surprises. Then, they continue on.
Finally, Allison passes by Fluttershy's cottage. Velcie is inside, asleep by Fluttershy's bed, when a disturbance awakens her. She shoots her head up, smelling the air before she walks up to the window.
She looks out to see the dinosaurs walking by. Looking at Fluttershy, who is fast asleep, she then quickly and quietly crawls out the window and hops down. Just as she does, Fluttershy shifts a bit in her sleep.
Velcie looks back up at the window before she heads to join her friends.
1 HOUR LATER
Allison continues on, following the trail. She has now entered the Everfree Forest. Since she's a dinosaur, no timber wolves will be messing with her. She's not afraid of them, as she is 3 times bigger.
However, a pack of 5+ timber wolves could take down an Allosaurus of Allison's size, so she's still wary. Dinosaurs have proven their place here in Equestria as top predators.
Only dragons and hydra rival them as apex predators. Allison still has no idea her friends are following her. She then reaches the edge of the forest.
Through a patch of opening, she is met with a familiar and surprising sight...a salt lake. She looks at its vast expanse, and she judges it is probably 5 miles across.
The tracks have slightly disappeared among the salty crust, but not to far ahead is what she's been looking for...a herd of Diplodocus.
They passed through Ponyville earlier today, and seeing them made her want some. Suddenly, she heard a stick crack behind her. She shoots her head, back only to be met with her friends. She was surprised to see them.
"What are you guys doing here!?" she suddenly spoke.
"Following you" Bruce replied.
"We were a little concerned" Delphi said.
"Well, I'm fine, thank you" Allison replied before she turned back.
"We were wondering what you were up to" Velcie said.
"I'm on the hunt" Allison replied.
"For?" Rampage asked. Allison gestured out on the salt plain. They looked to see the Diplodocus heard.
"Sauropods?" Spiney questioned.
"Yeah. I saw them and it made me hungry for one. I've only had Diplodocus once before, and it was the tastiest thing I've ever had" Allison said.
"Well, since we're here, we'll help you" Spiney said, "I mean, you can't take down a sauropod by yourself".
"I could, but it would take forever" Allison said.
"I'm pretty sure our companions would help us, but all they hear from us is..." Bruce said before he made a bunch of growls and roars.
"No, they're not the killing type, especially Fluttershy, and also, she can understand us" Velcie said.
"Oh, right" Bruce said.
"Well, what are we waiting for. Let's get going" Rampage said. With that said, they headed for the Diplodocus herd.
The Diplodocus herd is heading south because they sense the changes in the weather, as they aren't adapted for colder climate. Journey's like this can be grim, but this is not their Jurassic homeland, so it is a little easier.
Also, they get a lot farther when it's not squelching hot. But, out on an open plain like this makes them vulnerable to predators...predators like Allosaurus.
Allison soon appears, walking alongside the herd. Seeing her make the Diplodocus grow weary, as they know more will show up. She sniffs the air and looks for any signs of weakness.
She easily spots an old male, and can tell he is slowly giving out. With a gigantic wall of flesh and muscle between her and her target, she must separate the weak male from the herd. However, she is not alone.
Besides her friends, more predators begin to show up. From behind her walks up a Nanotyrannus, T-Rex's small cousin.
Although classified as a juvenile tyrannosaurus, Nanotyrannus measures 16 feet in length and about 7 feet at the hip.
Living at the same time as T-Rex, it was formidable predator, and would occasionally go after baby Tyrannosaurus. It retains many characteristics similar to that of T-Rex, like conical serrated teeth and the tiny arms.
However, its snout is narrower than that of T-Rex and more lightly built, suggesting it was fast.
The Nanotyrannus suddenly runs passed Allison, roaring at her. Allison snaps her jaws back and roars. However, Nanotyrannus isn't the only one joining them. A pack of 5 familiar predators appear.
Allison knows them all to well, as they were her arch rival back home. They are familiarized by the three horns on their head: a large nose horn and small, ridge-like horns above their eyes. These...are Ceratosaurus.
Living at the same time as Allosaurus, they rivaled each other. Ceratosaurus is slightly smaller, but could easily hold up a fight. However, larger Allosaurus make that difficult, and the hunter becomes the hunted.
Average Ceratosaurus measure 17 feet in length and 6 feet at the hip, but larger specimens have been known to grow 23 feet. Ceratosaurus are powerful predators, having strength on their side, but also speed.
Compared to their body, their skull is large, measuring 60 centimeters, almost 2 feet in length and 16 cm wide. With the exceptionally large skull comes large, serrated teeth.
The teeth of this creature suggest that they were like that of T-Rex, except thinner. Its bite force was suggested to be larger than that of Allosaurus, but smaller than that of Utahraptor.
However, besides a large head, powerful jaws and muscles, Ceratosaurus had small arms, like that of T-Rex, but they have 4 claws instead of two and were more functional.
Not only that, Ceratosaurus has osteoderms running along its back from neck to tail. These are almost like an ankylosaur's armor, but made of hard skin instead of bone or keratin.
The horns on Ceratosaurus are a mystery, but scientists suggest they would have been used for combat, intimidation, and/or attracting a mate.
The Ceratosaurus pack home in on the herd of Diplodocus. They're led by an Alpha male and female with the other three being their offspring. The male looks at Allison with a glare, but she ignores them and continues.
For now, these are the only predators on the scene for now, but more are likely to show up. The Nanotyrannus is the first to charge. He runs in between the herd, roaring at the Diplodocus.
They can all sense that the old male is old and weak, so they begin to separate the male from the herd.
Velcie runs up along the old male before pouncing on his side, ripping through his flesh and leaving a gash in his side. The male roars out in pain as Velcie jumps off and runs off.
Rampage enters the herd, roaring at the Diplodocus. The Diplodocus flee in panic as they've never seen a predator this huge before. Rampage rivals in size with Diplodocus, as they're not as big as Argentinosaurus.
They also think the same thing about Spiney. The Ceratosaurus, Bruce, and Delphi enter the fret as well, but they mostly do what the Nanotyrannus does, running between the herd and scaring the Diplodocus.
The male tries his best to keep up, but all the panic begins to confuse him. He roars out as he is left behind. He begins to make his way forward when Allison stops him.
She roars out before leaping up and snapping at the male's neck. He rears up on his back legs, Allison standing her ground, until he comes crashing back down, in which she moves out of the way.
Soon, the panicked herd leaves the sick male behind and the predators surround him. A Ceratosaurus roars at him only to have him bellow back in response. The predators were now impatient as they were hungry.
And without it being day, it would take longer for the Diplodocus to collapse. The gash Velcie made would not bleed out fast enough either.
Then, a brave Ceratosaurus went up to one of the Diplodocus's legs before biting on it. However, that was a mistake. The Diplodocus male roared out in pain before shaking the Ceratosaurus off.
The bite did hardly anything. The Ceratosaurus roared at the Diplodocus and lunged for its neck, only to miss.
The male retaliates by swinging his neck, knocking the Ceratosaurus to the ground, the male bellowing at the Ceratosaurus. Unharmed, the Ceratosaurus soon gets up and backs away with a roar.
Even though he was old, the Diplodocus could still hold a fight. However, that wouldn't last long as Spiney charged with a roar.
He bites down on the Diplodocus's neck while also clawing at it, ripping through the flesh with ease. The Diplodocus bellows out in pain and struggles to break free, but that wasn't going to happen.
Then, Rampage approaches and the last thing the Diplodocus was was her serrated teeth. Rampage bites down on the Diplodocus's neck, just behind his head. The teeth dig deep enough to sever the spinal chord.
The Diplodocus soon goes limp and Spiney and Rampage let the body drop. With a massive thud, the male's body collapses to the salt ground.
Rampage then puts her foot on the Diplodocus's head and let's out a thunderous roar that could be heard for miles. Her friends also joined in, and strangely enough, the other dinosaurs as well.
Then, with that said, they gorged themselves on their prize.
It's now been a few minutes since they've started eating and other predators begin to show up. The smell of any carcass attracts predators from miles around as the smell can travel by wind.
Allosaurus of all sizes first show up. Allison and her friends are eating close to each other, mostly gorging on the belly of the Diplodocus, as that's where all the good stuff is.
But, the party is about to be ruined. In the distance, Allison is the first to notice 5 figures moving in her direction. Thinking it was more Allosaurus, she just continued eating. However, it was anything but.
As they grew closer, Allison looked again as her eyes widened. It was a family of Kings...Tyrannosaurus. The leader, a large female, roared out, letting her presence be known.
All predators immediately back away from them and the carcass as you defying a Tyrannosaurus signs your death warrant. She is joined by her mate, and 3 babies.
However, two are almost as big as their parents, while the third is just a juvenile. The large female glares immediately at the Nanotyrannus. He backs away just a little bit, but she didn't want only a little bit.
She roared at the Nano, chasing after him until he was running for the hills. She is a veteran and knows them all too well as Nanotyrannus are killers of baby Tyrannosaurus.
When she knew he was gone, she returned to her family. Then, they focused their attention on Allison and her friends. They all knew better and were luckily full anyway.
Spiney and Rampage could take on four Tyrannosaurus together, but it would likely end in sever injuries. Also, they weren't in the mood to fight either. So, with that, the 6 continued back.
However, Bruce wasn't fully full. He sneakily went back as the Tyrannosaur family began gorging. He quickly grabbed a piece of meat. He luckily got out of there as the male noticed him.
The male snapped his jaws at Bruce before letting out a thunderous roar after him. Bruce ran as fast as he could to regroup with the others, the piece of meat in his mouth.
The male snorted before returning to the carcass. Allison noticed the commotion, along with everyone else.
"Bruce, what did you do?" she asked as all eyes were on him. They saw the piece of meat in his mouth.
"What? I wanted to take one for the road" Bruce said. Allison, Rampage and Velcie rolled their eyes while Spiney and Dephi chuckled.
"You could have easily been killed" Rampage said.
"Well, I'm still alive, ain't I?" Bruce replied. The group continued on back home.
Author's Note: HI EVERYONE! I'm BACK! How? Well, I got school and I'm using the Chromebook I got so I can write my story.
Of course, in my spare time, but the point is I can get back to writing. Hope this surprise was worth it.
Also, yeah, the dinosaurs can talk, but only Fluttershy can understand them. As Bruce said, all the others here are roars and growls when they talk.
Anyways, that's all for now. I'm glad to be back! :) Dinopony2580 saluting to you, over and out.