//------------------------------//
// 6 - Welcome to the Jungle 
// Story: The Wild Goose Chase 
// by Theevina 
//------------------------------//

Discord changed the boat's direction to sail away from the island and out into the open sea. It was moving even faster than it was before.

"Sorry, but we still have a long way to go before we reach land again." he announced. "Mostly because we were kind of... uh... going the wrong way."

"How?"

"The map was upside-down."

"Ah, so we didn't have to go to that island?"

"But I really wanted to see what was hidden there!"

"It was just a dirty old gem. I don't think that would help us very much!"

Discord didn't reply. Twilight could tell by the position of the sun that they weren't heading north anymore, but south. There were still a few more hours before it was going to become dark.

So, how do you plan to pass the time? he asked.

"You tell me..."

"Stop being so negative! I think you should try to show me some of your magic."

"I already told you, I can't."

"Just try."

She gave up trying to resist because she knew he would eventually win. After a few seconds, several sparks rose from her horn and she concentrated on turning a seashell in the boat into a cupcake. But she could tell that Discord was staring at her, and so her eyes darted up into his face before she could stop herself. Dozens of awful images flashed through her head and filled her with dread. She lost all magic.

"Well, I tried." she told him.

"It'll come back. I know it will." he assured her.

"Can't I just eat and go to bed early?"

"Why would you?"

"Because maybe I'll be strong enough to go farther tomorrow."

"Ok, sure." he said. The sack of food appeared and Twilight finished all that was left. She was tired and didn't know what to do to pass the time. All she wanted was to get away from him.

Discord cleaned up and made the tent appear. She noticed that he wasn't looking too happy, but she still didn't care about him that much.

She went inside but the boat was rocking too much for her to sleep. She was hating this adventure more and more as time passed on, although she did have to admit that the island adventure was a little fun (but she would never admit it to him). For a while she was sorely tempted to teleport back to Ponyville (even though she knew she probably didn't have enough magic to make it). She would return back to her mundane life, and she would be directly disobeying an order from the princes. But it might be worth it.

But this isn't too bad. She thought. Actually, there are many ponies who would give anything to do what I am doing, that is, if there was any chance of survival. Maybe I'm actually lucky. But then if I'm so lucky, why do I have to go with him? Why did the princess want me to go with him? Or did he just say that to make me angry? Does he actually think we have any chance of being friends?

She thought of many things and it was beginning to make her sleepy. She thought of Spike and her friends at home and how worried that must be about her. The movement of the boat was no longer annoying, but somehow soothing, and she dozed off feeling safe and secure.


~~~~~


The next day she awoke to find pink light fading through the walls of the tent. She figured it must have been dawn. She prepared herself the best she could for the day ahead and peeked out of the tent quietly to see Discord without having him know she was awake.

He was doing it again. He was facing the rising sun with a sad, but perhaps hopeful expression. It went against everything she knew about him. The way he looked made him appear to be strangely un-Discord-like. She wondered what he could possibly be thinking about to make him look like that. And the sense of pity for him overtook her again.

Discord turned around. "Hello, Miss Sparkle. I could hear you breathing there for a while."

"Oh, uh, sorry." she said sheepishly, feeling bad for having been caught spying.

A minute later, he broke the awkward silence. "Anyway, we have arrived at land. You wouldn't be able to see it because it's behind the tent."

She stepped out and turned around. All she could see past a small beach was countless trees. And they were much taller and thicker than the ones in the Everfree Forest. "Is that..."

"...a jungle." he interjected. "And it will be very dangerous and hard to travel... but who cares?"

"And what about breakfast?"

"You'll have to find some on the way." He tossed her a pith helmet. "So are you ready?"

"Uh sure, as long as you know where you're going."

They stepped out of the boat and Discord cleaned it up. As they entered the jungle, Twilight first realized how humid and noisy it was. And there were patches of fog where it was hard to see where they were going. Birds and insects and creatures that she had never heard of before were making their presence known. And the plants were very large and strange.

"Just to let you know, you might want to avoid touching anything spotted... or striped... or anything really. Just don't touch anything unless I say it's ok, okay?"

That was going to be very difficult. The vegetation was very thick. As they plowed their way through the fog, vines and fallen logs covered in moss would seemingly appear out of nowhere.

Then they came upon a large tree with branches weighed down by hundreds of dull red fruits.

"Oh, you can eat that." he told her.

She knocked a few to the ground and picked one of them up. It was heavy and very thick on the outside, but once she opened it, it will filled with hundreds of seeds that were very delicious.

"I think it is called a Pomegranate." he said. "Anyway, we should probably get going..."

"NOT SO FAST!"

At first, neither of them could tell where the voice was coming from.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" the gruff voice shouted.

They gazed up at the tree. A furious gorilla was glowering down at them.

"This is my tree! You think you can just take some of my fruit whenever you want?"

"Were sorry," Twilight began, with a timid voice that reminded her of Fluttershy.

"Don't be sorry... THINK for one flippin' second!"

"Hey! Nobody talks to Twilight that way!" Discord shot back.

"Oh really? And what are you going to do about it mister freaky-species-that-I've-never-seen-before? You look like a mish-mash of everything but the kitchen sink! And when I'm through with you, you'll wish you were never born!"

Discord snapped his fingers and the gorilla became a rectangular pastry with pink frosting and sprinkles. He picked it up and ate it. Twilight thought she heard something that sounded like a "meow".

"Mmm... tasty."

Although she was a bit disgusted by that, she felt somewhat flattered that Discord was standing up for her. She wondered if it was some kind of trick because it was still hard to believe that he would actually care about her.

They continued working their way through the wild jungle and Discord collected fruit in the sack to keep for later. After a couple of hours, they could see a break in the trees ahead.

When they arrived, the view they found was stunning. They could see the canopy of thousands of trees below them, in a canyon leaning up to a gargantuan rocky mountain with snow around its peak. She wished she had brought a camera to capture this beauty.

"That's where we need to go." Discord spoke.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that. It looks pretty dangerous... and cold"

"Very cold." he said. "But doesn't that sound refreshing?"

Twilight had to admit that she was very hot and wet from the journey through the forest and was disappointed that they still had a couple miles to go until they reached the end of the canyon and the foot of the mountain. "I'm ready when you are..."

He smiled. "Oh... I know of a shortcut."

"What?"

"Twilight, grab my arm!"

She did so reluctantly, and then they were unexpectedly blasted forward by a powerful force. They flew over the canyon as fast as lightning, riding on a giant rainbow.

"ADVENTURE!" he cried.