65536, 10013, and 36658, all still wearing camo carapace colors, rush through the jungle along a well-maintained tourist path while 65536 explains what to look out for.
"I don't have much experience with jungles, but I've seen a documentary -at least I think it was a documentary- about Daring Do and they explained a lot in it that was very similar to my experience with the Everfree forest. The worst thing, at least for ponies, are the dangernoodles. There are bitey ones and crushy ones, but I don't think they're used to changelings, because I stepped on bitey ones multiple times by accident -they're really hard to see in the dark- and they always bit me and then slunk off. It didn't even scratch my carapace much."
"So, not too dangerous noodles?" asks 10013.
"I think they're super dangerous to ponies because they're squishy," 65536 shrugs, "The crushy ones are supposedly a problem even for changelings because if they catch you they just wrap around you and squeeze so hard they can crush all kinds of stuff, even pony suits of armor."
"That sounds much worse!" comments 36658.
"It's not that bad. Supposedly they're really slow at crushing so we can always just dig them. High ranks and ponies can't do that and not all unicorns can teleport away."
"So, overall, dangernoodles are more noodles than danger, right?" summarizes 10013.
"Yup, but let's be careful anyway," 65536 ducks under a low hanging branch, "What's much worse are stripey biters. They're big like earth ponies, super quick, have sharp teeth and claws. Very nasty. They can sleep in bushes or in the trees and they can pounce on you. They don't like loud things, from what the moving picture said, but we don't want to be loud either."
"Good thing it's so bright outside at night," comments 36658. While it is roughly ten o'clock at night, the starry dark sky with the moon shining with nearly zero cloud cover both mean the drones can see just fine.
"Yup, although stripey biters can supposedly see really well in the dark too," 65536 pauses, "Got it! Muscly bashers! They're huge, loud, super strong, quick, and move around in the tree canopies as well as on the ground. Those are a big no-no. I think they're super territorial, though, so we might be in the clear if one of the tourist routes is near the area we need to search."
"So, the biggest baddie, but it's unlikely we'll see it," 10013 nods, "Anything else?"
"Most critters just run away when they sense anything unusual, which is why I'm sure we're not being followed, because there are jungle noises all around," says 65536, "Overall, jungles can be super nasty but it's still a cakewalk compared to the tunnels."
"Wait, walking on cake?" 10013 stops turning its head around while trotting and looks at 65536's back, "Do ponies do that?"
"I think Princess Celestia does that sometimes," admits 65536 after brief hesitation, "I once accidentally entered her room through a wobbly magical mirror connecting hers with Luna's and she was having her hoof licked by two Royal Guards. I think ponies use cakewalk when they mean that something is easy."
"Walking on cake can't be easier than on rocks," 36658 shakes its head.
"Yeeah, some pony sayings and names are kinda weird. That's one thing we drones have got figured out much better," says 65536 to the agreeing nods of its companions.
While the security briefing is over, the drones still have a long trek ahead of them.
***
20100 realizes it might be in trouble.
YOU ARE READING
They're... ON HOLIDAY?
Fanfiction[SEQUEL TO: They're EVERYWHERE!] Several years after the changeling invasion of Canterlot, queen Chrysalis gets an invitation to attend a cruise followed by a stay in a luxury holiday resort on an island belonging to the Griffon Empire. Supposedly...
