//------------------------------//
// 2/12/1875 - Poisonous 
// Story: The Journal of Rising Dawn 
// by Professor_Rising_Dawn 
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February 12th, 1875

In this hour after the sun has set upon the horizon, and after I’ve finished with my evening duties I finally have found time to reflect on the past four days, and my final day in this wretched jungle.

Upon being invited on this expedition by my dear Compass Sparrow I felt nothing but eager anticipation as I told you in my last entry. Shortly after writing, we also received the itinerary for the trip. 

It was simple to say the least. Either some pony was over exaggerating the impact of this particular investigation, or the itinerary was deceptively simplified. I wasn’t sure which I would’ve prefer under the circumstances then, and, as I write here in the confines of our tent in the low oil lantern light, I still wouldn’t be able to tell you.

In short, the itinerary stated the following,

“Day 1: Hike in, set up camp

Days 2-3: Investigate and catalog the wildlife and temple

Day 4: Break Camp, hike out

Notes: Do not touch or consume the wildlife”

The entire paper seemed clean cut with little detail aside from the notice, which seemed self explanatory to me, and only confused Compass who generally neither avoided nor went out of his way to disturb the animals.

Travel to the site entrance took hours, and from the entrance to our camp took even longer. The environment we were going to traverse was a dense tropical jungle south of much of the populated portions of Equestria. It was quite stunning to see in person, even as we had to travel in a rickety chariot.

The plant-life in the jungle was easily triple the size as it was at home, and was dripping with both water and magical energy. It was difficult to see inside the foliage and so I suspected that the density of this place would persist through to the expedition site. 

Upon arrival, we were both given blank journals in which Compass’s employer asked us to keep our research and notes. Needless to say I received two notebooks and he maintained his cool ambiance for the trip. This didn’t bother me however. It was standard carry for Compass to get the jobs and the adventure, and for I to get the free trip and the scientific or historical credit. Its a well engineered organization we have, though I’m sure you’ve no doubt seen this in previous entries.

Nonetheless we quickly began the trek inside. As soon as we were under the canopy I felt hot, like there was nothing I could do aside from shaving my coat to relieve the heat. The stiflingly hot 95*F/35*C made the already lengthy trip take much longer than necessary, and the ground was soft and nearly muddy making movement more tedious.

Unsurprisingly the air moved very little with so much to impede it. This made every breath feel stale,  and I hoped that we might be lucky enough to be near a body of water at camp where perhaps the temperature and airflow may be more ideal.

The closer we got to the site though, the more uneasy I became. The foliage seemed to grow larger and more dense, as if either could do much of that in a matter of speaking. The magical energy in the air too seemed to get thicker, and brining with it a sense of great unease. 

I mentioned it to Compass quietly during one of our rests but he seemed unfazed by it. I suppose it was enough to know I wasn’t going mad, even if the looming sense of foreboding wasn’t shared by my companions.

After hours of slow going, we arrived at the campsite, which to my disappointment was not near a large body of water as I had hoped. This added to the heat which did not seem to relent as the sun began to set. 

Compass did however give me permission to act as a scout for the area as he and our guides set up camp, something I was eager to hear. During this time I took a short walk around the perimeter of our camp and determined to my surprise that the area in which we were settled did not seem to carry with it any signs of animal life. I intended to investigate this situation further but was called back to camp for dinner as the tent and fire had been prepared.

The night cooled after dinner, I’d finished my duties at sunset, but not by a whole lot. Instead we slept in the stiflingly muggy jungle in our cots laid out carefully to conserve space. I’d wanted to write an entry then, however I had neither the time nor the energy to do so.

Sleep was fitful. The combination of new and uncomfortable atmosphere and the anxiety permeating the camp which had lingered, prevented me from staying asleep. Animals that were not present only hours before made quiet noises in the night, rustling the trees and snapping small twigs which only kept me further on alert.

The next morning came surprisingly quickly, or perhaps my sense of time was being muddled, I cannot be sure of either. We ate a quick breakfast and made small talk with the guides. 

To my and Compass’s surprise, none of our guides would be accompanying us to the temple, nor while we catalog wildlife. For this, they gave no reason which puzzled me. If there was something to be feared, would it not be something worth telling us? I shook it off, though it added to my growing feeling of dread. Either something was keeping them quiet or they were lazy. I suspected the former but hoped the latter. 

Soon after, Compass and I began our walk to the temple. We’d planned to examine animal life as we walked, however just as I’d discovered yesterday, there was no trace of another living thing aside from us. 

The magical energy all around us seemed to stifle most other simple magic, which when used would dissipate into the oblivion, like trying to pour water into a lake. Only the more powerful of my spells seemed to do anything at all, and so I refrained from performing magic at the time, saving my own energy in the case that we might need it.

The temple was relatively standard. It wasn’t well kept and so was covered with a menagerie of plant life and stone statues decaying away. It was almost disappointing to see something with so little uniqueness, especially under the circumstances.

I began to sketch the structure as Compass investigated the area. I’ll be sure to include the drawing if our employer signs off and returns our notes.

When we were both satisfied that we weren’t missing anything, we entered the temple. It was small so the one room inside wasn’t much but it held intriguing carvings. They had very little writings, and the writing it did have was in a language neither of us could speak.

I did some preliminary sketches, however a sound outside the temple caught our attention. Compass wanted to run out but I held him back quietly as we made our way to the entrance. 

At first we saw nothing, and I almost let compass run out as he’d wanted to do before, however I then caught sight of a tiny movement in the grass near the edge of the clearing. 

With our eyes wide, we both stayed as still as we possibly could, as something tiny entered the clearing. 

Outside of the grass it was clear that the small animal was a frog. It’s skin was an extremely bright color, to the point that had I seen it in the night I would assume it glowing. At the time I wondered if perhaps it did. As soon as I saw it, the magic within the animal was apparent.

It was almost as if the frog itself was pure magic, however it’s physical being was merely infused with such large quantities of magic that it would not be immediately apparent which of these was true. 

I stepped out of the temple slowly, not wanting to scare the creature, but needing a closer look. I made an attempt to lift it with my magic, however as I’d discovered previously the amount of ambient magic rendered low level spells Inept, and now I was beginning to suspect why. With no way to distantly hold the frog, I slowly approached and outstretched a hoof, hoping that like other animals unfamiliar with ponies, that they too would be interested.

Compass attempted to whisper to me but I paid him no mind, and I was filled with a relief and satisfaction when the small frog leapt onto my hoof. Compass groaned quietly and I remembered that we weren’t supposed to touch anything directly. Seeing that the damage had already been done, I asked for compass to bring a container in which to keep our specimen for further research. He begrudgingly agreed, and I placed the small frog in a jar. 

We continued our investigation at the work site though over time I began to grow more and more tired. When I felt like I was going to fall asleep on my hooves, Compass helped me and we called it an early day. I slept at camp until sunset where I woke up long enough to fulfill my commitments and return to bed.

I woke up today with a fever, chills, aches and strange markings all over my coat, resembling the markings in the temple. At first, I was worried that perhaps there was a curse upon this particular swath of jungle, however Compass reassured me that it was unlikely since the villagers had spoken fondly of the area. 

However I remained incapacitated nearly all afternoon while Compass did some of his own research for once. I did get a chance to examine the frog we found, and after a long time it dawned on me what had happened. 

With such powerful magic and such a magic saturated atmosphere, the frog’s stores had nowhere to go. When they came in contact with me, I was a fresh vessel to equalize the magic gradient. Such foreign magic was unfamiliar to me, and the concentration took me out of commission. The markings in the temple likely acted as a warning to those who found this area.

With a comforting reassurance that eventually I would be alright, sleep once again found me. 

When I awoke again, the symptoms seemed to be dissipating slowly, as my body acclimated to the magic within me. I then decided to fire off a few spells to perhaps speed up the process in order to leave on time. 

It only took a couple teleportation spells to prove my theory and relieve some of the magic tension in my body. 

We’ll be leaving soon, so I’ll be cutting my entry short, but Compass said that when he conducted his research he found hundreds of these tiny frogs silent in the jungle, rarely moving, and seemingly sustaining themselves on the magic they produced. 

I too will conduct more experiments at home. It’s not often one finds themselves poisoned with magic.