private Heart of the Jungle, Reboot

[Descant 1,897]

OOC

 

The desert. Sweltering, sandy, bleak. Across the desert the teal pegasus flew, followed by a streak of blue and green light that was never seen outside the arctic, except for where this pony flew. Ice crystals formed within the trailing aurora, and fell, only to disappear moments later, as they hit the hot, dry desert air. 

 

The Pegasus sighed with relief when his destination, a sprawling city centred around an oasis, within walking distance of the coast, came into sight. Finally, he had arrived at the beautiful Zebran city of Timbucktu...

 

 

He landed in the hot desert sand just outside the city, and, as he was walking through the front gates, examining a piece or parchment from in his saddlebag, a small zebra mare approached him. "You are one of the Equestrians being sent to the Amblezon Jungle?" The pegasus nodded. "You are the first of your company to arrive. Your boat departs in a days time. I will take you to where you can stay." 

 

The pegasus curtly nodded again, and followed the mare as she led him to what must have been some sort of tavern. "You must tell me your name, so I may inform the elders that you have arrived."

 

"My name? My name is North Arrow."

 

The mare nodded, and exited the tavern where he would meet those ponies he would be travelling with. No doubt to inform the elders. Whoever they were.  

 

He took the scroll out of his bag again, and examined it. It was a letter from Princess Celestia, delivered to him about a month ago. North chose to reread it for what seemed the umpteenth time.

 

         Dear North Arrow,

 

You have chosen, among the best and wisest of my subjects, to participate in an expedition to find the fabled Heart of the Jungle. If you choose to accept this invitation, you should travel to the city Timbucktu in the Zebran Desert, far to the south. From there, you and your fellow adventurers shall travel across the sea, to the dangerous lands beyond, the Amblezon Jungle. This is one journey you may not return from. But if you find the Heart, you will be recognised, in front of all Equestria, as one of the greatest explorers to ever live.

 

         Yours truly, and best of luck,

                      Princess Celestia

 

 

 

North Arrow leaned back in his chair, folding up the scroll and putting it back in his saddlebag, patiently awaiting the arrival of his companions. They would come.

 

[legionbrony 107]

At around the same time, a Unicorn named Silver Shield was reading a similar scroll as the caravan he was travelling with plodded into Timbucktu.

 

Before this journey, Silver had never really liked sand all that much. After the walk of miles upon miles, his opinion of the stuff had not improved.

 

He wished the Princess could have sent him in a chariot, but they were not for long distance transportation, unfortunately. He had been brought to the desert's edge and left to cross it on his own four hooves.

 

The guard shook his head, sending sand flying everywhere, bid his travelling companions adieu, and set out to find the meeting location for this group. He hoped they would be more tolerable than the last group he went into a deadly situation with was, but it seemed all the ponies willing to do such things were fated to be nerve-grating. He sighed. Maybe this time...

[Countess Noodle 607]

Only a little ways away from her destination Twinkle Tower, an earth pony, decided she had possibly lost her sanity. As she was nestled in a small caravan pulled by two zebras, her brown fur matted with sand and her crimson mane was a bit ratty as it fought the dry heat. Her slanted golden eyes were drifting close only to pop open whenever a bump disturbed her. 

 

She had managed to convince the two male zebras with some bits and a promise for more if they waited for her to return and take her back, but now she wasn't so sure it was worth coming out here. Twinkle was used to concrete roads under hooves, a salty cold breeze and the music that was Manehattan flowing into her ears.

 

Twinkle had been among the chosen to come out here and explore; although she had no exploration experience she did have her astromancy and she could only hope it would help her in some way.

 

As the caravan finally stopped at the chosen destination Twinkle gathered her saddle bag and fixed her frilled ascot. No reason to look to harried while in this Celestia forsaken desert. She stepped out and and squinted her eyes even more than they were at the blinding sun and thanked her two escorts. As she began her walk to the meet-up she could only hope the fortune she foretold before coming here did not come true, but she knew it would. Her fortunes always comes true.

[Descant 1,897]

At around the same time, a Unicorn named Silver Shield was reading a similar scroll as the caravan he was travelling with plodded into Timbucktu.

 

Before this journey, Silver had never really liked sand all that much. After the walk of miles upon miles, his opinion of the stuff had not improved.

 

He wished the Princess could have sent him in a chariot, but they were not for long distance transportation, unfortunately. He had been brought to the desert's edge and left to cross it on his own four hooves.

 

The guard shook his head, sending sand flying everywhere, bid his travelling companions adieu, and set out to find the meeting location for this group. He hoped they would be more tolerable than the last group he went into a deadly situation with was, but it seemed all the ponies willing to do such things were fated to be nerve-grating. He sighed. Maybe this time...

 

 

Only a little ways away from her destination Twinkle Tower, an earth pony, decided she had possibly lost her sanity. As she was nestled in a small caravan pulled by two zebras, her brown fur matted with sand and her crimson mane was a bit ratty as it fought the dry heat. Her slanted golden eyes were drifting close only to pop open whenever a bump disturbed her. 

 

She had managed to convince the two male zebras with some bits and a promise for more if they waited for her to return and take her back, but now she wasn't so sure it was worth coming out here. Twinkle was used to concrete roads under hooves, a salty cold breeze and the music that was Manehattan flowing into her ears.

 

Twinkle had been among the chosen to come out here and explore; although she had no exploration experience she did have her astromancy and she could only hope it would help her in some way.

 

As the caravan finally stopped at the chosen destination Twinkle gathered her saddle bag and fixed her frilled ascot. No reason to look to harried while in this Celestia forsaken desert. She stepped out and and squinted her eyes even more than they were at the blinding sun and thanked her two escorts. As she began her walk to the meet-up she could only hope the fortune she foretold before coming here did not come true, but she knew it would. Her fortunes always comes true.

North Arrow continued to peer thoughtfully at the door as ponies entered and left the tavern, on their daily business. Mostly zebras, just as the demographics for this area expected, but North knew these were just townsfolk, no more.

 

A group of zebras escorted two unlikely looking ponies inside and seemed to direct them towards where he sat in the corner. The golden eyes narrowed, flitting over the two strangers who were now approaching him. One, the silver, he thought he recognized from the Princess' guard, and although he was much scrawnier than he would expect a guardspony to be, he was sure that this unicorn had strong defensive magical prowess, otherwise Celestia wouldn't entrust him with the responsibilty of securing her kingdom. The other, an earth pony dressed in the frilly garments of the Manehattan elite, looked utterly unprepared for the kind of adventure they were about to undertake. By her cutie mark, North guessed she might be good at navigation, but he really hoped she had more than met the eye. He would help how he could, but there was only so much he could do.

 

Hopefully she'd arrive soon. She was much better at chit-chat than he was.

 

He sat up a little more straightly in his chair as the two companions approached him, and inclined his head politely. "Welcome to the start of your quest," the pegasus said, his voice deep, slow, and reassuring. A tavern's waiter, a dark, sand-covered griffon, swooped over their heads, and three foaming mugs plopped onto the table smoothly in front of the three of them. "You have your letters?"

[legionbrony 107]

Silver, ignoring the mug and the waiter, dropped aforementioned scroll unceremoniously onto the table in front of North Arrow as an answer. 

 

He then lifted all of the items out of his bag, some quite perplexing in nature (such as several books and other things that were not really recognizable, or seemed rather useless, like a container labeled 'salt'), shook them out, and dumped a bunch of sand out of the saddlebag, with a facial expression that gave away little beyond the fact that he was not particularly happy.  Then again, he was rarely happy enough for it to show, anyways.

 

Finally, after shaking much more sand out of his mane than should have been possible, he spoke, his tone dry.  "Yes.  The beginning.  Of course."

Edited February 4, 2015 by legionbrony

[Vae Victis 742]

'Lorec, I am very sorry that you have had little time to rest since your last excursion. However, this mission is of the utmost importance. Inside the area known as the amblezon jungle lies an object, one that has been pulsating a rather unusual power. This object is, as of yet, unknown to the order in nature, and thus, must be captured. Lorec, I am not going to sugar coat it. This mission, due to conditions of location, is classed as a ten star mission. I would take this myself before throwing you under the bus, but you must understand that Leovia needs me as their ambassador to Equestria, and I am grounded by paperwork. Be careful, Lorec. While others will join you to secure that object, know that the Amblezon is dangerous, almost excessively so. I was able to secure talaku root for you, attached to this letter. You have enough for three nights. Its best if this is finished in three days, as Luna's influence can't reach you from this distance. I believe in you, Lorec. May the All-maker keep you safe.

 

-Kazas'

 

Lorec put the note away, in his back pocket. A jungle sounded like a great place to hunt. Even still, he had to remember that he was on a mission. The minotaur was on the outskirts of Timbuktu. A beast of a minotaur with a Zweihander on his back, a great hunting bow and arrows , bandaged arms, and a Dark gold tunic, many around this area were giving him strange looks, as if he were there to cause trouble. The cloak that helped against the sand didn't help, either. He almost looked like a mercenary, or even a criminal. Of course, the mercenary description wasn't exactly incorrect on a technical meaning. Even still, he pressed on, saying an old war chant from his homeland in a hushed voice, praying to his foreign gods in his native tongue. While capable of advanced English, he preferred to sing in Tauric.

 

" kung ouch furste

Krigare

Kejsare

Härskare

Vakna, vakna, Maktiga Byölorn..."

 

A chant, asking a god of hunting to aid him. He stopped when he reached his destination. It looked like a watering hole. Lucky him, a chance to refill on water. Hopefully, the others were here, too. He entered the establishment, looking around. More strange looks from ponies and griffons alike. Maybe someone here knew he had come for the excursion to the amblezon, and would call for him...

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

Silver Lung smiled to himself nervously as he approached the tavern to which he would meet the others of this expedition. He had been sent here by his... contacts... in Canterlot, and he was told that the group needed a medic- a person who knew how to set a bone if things went wrong. He had said yes. Perhaps a bit prematurely, considering the struggles to get through the desert and the difficulties of finding the underworlders who had requested him. They promised him money, fame, and glory. But especially the money. He was all but broke at the moment, and the sum they were offering was great enough to pay off his debt... but he would have to find this, 'heart' in return.

 

Oh, and remain alive, although the ponies had assured him that his life was in good hands and there was a low fatality rate. Either way, he didn't want to join that particular statistic. Taking a breath to calm himself, he walked up to the door, drew a breath, put a hoof to the door...

 

And took a few steps back.

 

He could always walk away, yes. All he had to do was leave now, and then he could go back to Canterlot and continue his livelihood at the hospital. It was a rather week-by-week scare, trying to keep the bills from overwhelming him, but, hey, he would stay alive. And there was always the promise that, eventually, he would get out of debt. But, doing the math in his head, he could see that that wasn't a choice. It would take a big break for him to get through the next year, especially with more and more ponies getting medical treatments for their injuries and maladies. With a sigh, knowing that forward was the... well, only way forwards, he stepped into the building and, as the door closed, he gulped, the slam of the wood sounding valedictory. Even more so when he realized he was standing in a crowded bar next to a minotaur that towered over him.

 

Eyes wide and nervous, he took a breath or two and started to slowly wander, trying to find someone that might just seem to be the type that would take on an expedition like this.

 

---

 

It was a windy day in the seaside town, and, as the shade approached, he was struck by a sense of deja vu. Had he done this before? There was always that small kernel of doubt. He shrugged and continued forwards, taking in the salty ocean breeze as it whipped through the numerous city village.

The day before, there was a... commotion amongst him and his comrades. Whenever his team was given orders, they usually drew straws. Just his luck, he managed to draw the short one- both literally and metaphorically. What a mission this was! He had to not only guard an odd, female floramancer, he was also sent on a soulcollecting mission. Coincidentally, to one of the four places in Equestria that was so convoluted with dark magics and foreign objects that the souls couldn't be obtained by the  mindless specters that made their homes in the shadows.

 

The thought of these beasts made Agririon shiver a bit. They were... quite overbearing. At least their minds were given to one job, but it was scary to be at the receiving end of that job. The shades were not gentle, and Agririon decided to leave that thought there before his mind began conjuring images... too late.

 

Shaking his head, he stepped around the corner and examined the letter that had been included in the scroll.

 

 

Dear Agririon,

 

You have chosen, among the best and wisest of my subjects, to participate in an expedition to find the fabled Heart of the Jungle. If you choose to accept this invitation, you should travel to the city Timbucktu in the Zebran Desert, far to the south. From there, you and your fellow adventurers shall travel across the sea, to the dangerous lands beyond, the Amblezon Jungle. This is one journey you may not return from. But if you find the Heart, you will be recognised, in front of all Equestria, as one of the greatest explorers to ever live.

 

         Yours truly, and best of luck,

                      Princess Celestia

 

Taking a breath, he looked up and, remembering in vivid recollection the mare that he was to ensure safety for, he stood at the door a few steps back from the local tavern and began waiting, his eyes peeled while he smiled to himself. Leave it to Celestia to write the letter in pink. Pink, of all colors! Well, it certainly caught the eye, and if that was the intent, then it worked, but sometimes he thought it a bit too obnoxious. With a shrug, he settled down into a tiny depression and started waiting.

[legionbrony 107]

Silver noted the arrival of others in their party, clearly distinguishable by their foreign clothing or just their sheer out-of-place factor, with a calm, emotionless glance. His eyes tended to give one the feeling that they were being judged, which was absolutely not inaccurate most of the time.