Before starting my climb, I took a moment to test my wings low to the ground to make sure that I wouldn’t pass out with the effort.
When it seemed like it worked and I didn’t black out, I flew up as far as I could before the branches got too thick and after that it was a mix of climbing and flapping over to a different thick branch as I made myself up through the thick crown of the tree.
It took me a while as it got pretty thick at times, but soon I reached the highest branches and could look out across the sea of green of the jungle.
I couldn’t see shit, nothing but green in all directions all the way to the horizon.
Well, buck that.
I moved a bit further out on the branch. I just needed a better vantage point to see the landing spot. I mean, it was a white and pink airship with a big golden royal seal in front, it couldn’t exactly hide!
I spread my wings and took to the air, working my way up into the air into a spiral, working my way up higher and higher into the air as I scanned the forest and the horizon as my head throbbed from the effort, my horn feeling like it was mildly on fire.
Nothing but a green mat of jungle stretching out in every direction.
“Seriously!? How far did you bucking teleport me!?” I yelled as I scanned the horizon once more.
I knew the general direction of Equestria because of the movement of Celestia’s sun, but my exact position was completely beyond me. Who knows which direction the camp was in?
I flew a bit higher and then gave it up as a bad idea and just started to circle back down again. If Midnight really teleported me randomly, I’m likely lucky to be on the right continent. But I had no idea which direction back to the camp.
What to do, I needed a plan.
Back to the camp and airship at least. But how would I do that, especially with my horn out of order at the moment?
I went in for landing again in my tree before setting down to think. Rescue flares were out of the question because casting one might actually outright kill me right now. Or explode my horn or something equally not nice.
I needed to find a safe spot where I could sleep and call for help. It’ll take a rescue expedition from Canterlot to get here at least a week, possibly more.
Luna could guide them to me, and…
Yes!
I quickly raised my wings in triumph! I could find ponies in the dream realm! That’d give me the position of everypony! It’ll give me everypony's position and if I had been the only pony teleported out, it’d give me a clump of them for the position of the camp!
Then again, if I had been the only teleport, I imagine Midnight would have been more careful with the placement.
Okay. So I had a general plan. I just needed to find a safe spot for tonight and I couldn’t just stay in this tree. Besides, it’s going to start to rain sooner or later and I really didn’t want to be without cover then.
Yeah, it was safe now, but who knew what things roamed the tree crowns in this place? Jaguars were a thing on earth and they really didn’t mind climbing trees.
Without my magic, I really didn’t want to fuck with any predators.
...Wait… no magic? My horn hurt.
“Discord!” I yelled, “Discord, get your scaly tail out here! You owe me, you chimeric pile of parts!”
No reaction other than scaring some birds away from the next tree over.
Oh well, it had been a long shot anyway. I suppose even he had a range limit on his hearing… and not like I was actually his favorite pony in the first place so he might not show even if he did hear me.
I glanced down and then started to climb back down.
Flying would let me cover more distance, but without knowing what direction to move it wouldn’t help me and the jungle was too thick for me to be able to see anything useful on the ground as I did.
Which meant going down into the predator-filled underbrush or at least far down enough to fly between the lower branches like some sort of big tree squirrel.
Well, the squirrel thing sounded a lot more attractive than sneaking around playing tag with invisible velociraptors or whatever bullshit existed down among the bushes, if I could pull it off at least.
Turns out, there was a good reason ponies didn’t expand into the jungle and a lot of those reasons had big teeth.
I slid down the trunk to the lowest branch and looked around.
So… which direction to go? No downhill, no uphill, nothing but bucking trees and the sound of the jungle all around.
I sighed and leaned against the tree trunk. Amber would have to be absolutely apocalyptically worried right now. Poor ‘ling, if I could just let her know I was okay.
The brush rustled below and I froze pressing closer to the tree trunk as I stared down into the dimness of the jungle beneath the thick tree crowns.
Suddenly a pony pushed through into sight, ducking beneath a low branch.
“Hey! Dee Dee!” I called out as I recognized the pegasus.
The pegasus jumped and almost fell over in surprise, her wings beating in shock before looking around before finally looking up and spotting me, “Lord Page!”
Despite no evidence i feel like page has been missing for a while.
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Uh, there's your evidence
How many pages before we accidently stumble across the bat ponies?
Either they live like savages with a basic sort of community or Wakanda 2.0...
Or I'm just completely wrong, nothing gets found out and we just get a small chance to humble page as a leader?
Well, at least Page will have a jungle expert with him
I'm expecting Page to sleep upside-down in a tree because of what he thought in the earlier chapter.
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If he does not, we will all be disappoint.
Well Page has an ally to return to safety but until then, just remember:
Welcome to the Jungle! We got Fun & Games!!!!
Daring Doo adventure in the making I see *Sips Tea* I am eager to see where this all is heading.
Betting bits that he runs into Daring Do later.
Discord: "Huh?" *looks around confused *
Discord: "Did you heard anything?"
Cadence: "No, did you?"
Discord:*shrugs *" probably nothing important....... but still ,I feel insulted"
DARING DO HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY!
Btw I'm calling it right now! Page and Daring Do are in eastern part of the jungle, they're going to meet up with the Jungle Changeling Hive who has ling-napped Amber, and the rescue mission begins~!
hum so many ideas so many ways this story can go from here. D-D is attending the fun so the fun has been doubled.
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It would be a chance of pace for modern medie to simply come across the ruins/graves of the bat pony civilization.
If Page would still be a Pegasus i recommend sleep in the clouds. But Thestral dont have cold resistance sooo... Tough luck
Discord is probably watching with lots of popcorn and following Star Trek Q's first introduction to the Borg.
Helping so they dont all die but only to first/second priority Ponys/Changeling.
If one can not take a bloody nose a expedition shouldnt be taken...
As i see... Even if they get back to the ship the big predator still knows the location of a food source.
Kill or seriously injure the predator OR give up the camp and hide inside the ship until the rescue team arrive.
But what next? How to repeat the expedition without getting stranded again? Rubber isolation for the engine?
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Page killed Tirek, he can kill a Tirex as swell.
Maybe even the same way
Get big sharp objects into a pile, shrink it with an included time limit or contact detector and toss it into Tirex throat
“And so it was, that Ditzy Doo, Mail mare turned courier came to live in the jungle with her Threstal Lord. The two soon became lovers and they lived happily ever after.”
“That’s...an interesting little idea you have their Dee Dee, but I don’t think now is the time to start pitching me a story idea.”
“Hahaha...right story idea...that’s what that was.”
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It did not occur to me that Dee Dee was Daring Doo!
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That comment is gonna bring you down. HUUUUUHH!
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I mean longer than just a night
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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the engine wasn't fried by the lightning, but rather that the lightning blew a hole in the ship and hit the engine, knocking it out of the ship, or blowing it to pieces. So rubber insulation probably wouldn't help.
The mana capacitor (I think that's what it was here) probably got cracked in the explosion, or by the internal charge exiting too fast into empty terminals. Insulation may help with that one.
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Wait, are you saying Dee Dee & Daring are the same individual? Now that’s something, I wonder if you’re correct…
Lucky mare, she could have been called:
-Pee Pee
-Nee Nee
-Fee Fee
Or
-Gg gg