//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 - Off the Tracks 
// Story: Edited Details 
// by ILurvTrixie 
//------------------------------//

	Fluttershy eeped as she suddenly slid to a stop just short of her previous position, her wings still locked against her sides as she landed on the soft turf of the Everfree Forest. She oofed, wincing and whimpering, fully expecting to be attacked by an angry griffon of some kind.

"You okay?"

Fluttershy opened her eyes, peering up at the pegasus standing above her. Still stained with mud, but obviously much cleaner than before, the now somewhat obvious shape of Daring Do smiled down at Fluttershy. The adventurous pegasus offered the terrified pegasus a hoof up, which was quickly accepted. She stared up at Daring Do with her head down and whimpered.

"Angry griffons? About yay tall, in green and brown, about four of them?" Daring extended her wing to provide the height profile.

Fluttershy shook her head.

"Five. One blocked the only escape route from the room... How did you-?"

Daring laughed, to Fluttershy's surprise. 

"Okay, so that little artifact there is a teleporter of some kind. Guess it was lucky you grabbed it." Daring pointed with a hoof.

"Grab-? Nonono, I um... " She blinked down at the small somewhat innocent looking pile of stones behind her. "That's an artifact? It looks like a bunch of rocks."

"Oh yeah, that's about all it is too, or at least that's all it was supposed to be. 'Course, if you can't touch the thing without it teleporting you, getting it somewhere else becomes a bit more of a task. Mind if I use your bucket?" Daring nodded over her shoulder back at the wooden bucket she had placed next to the mane care products after freeing herself from her sticky situation.  

Fluttershy blinked curiously, but nodded. "Go ahead. ...Umm... Miss Do, why are you here?" Fluttershy followed the adventuresome pegasus' progress with her eyes as the latter collected the bucket and a stick. With a quick flick of her hooves, the artifact was (with any luck) contained by the wooden bucket.

"Useful things, sticks." Daring said with a smile, tossing the tool aside. "The why, well, artifact hunting, and the artifact in question being a teleporter, as you yourself found out. Don't suppose I could impose on you for a bit until I get cleaned up for the flight home? This muck has me ground bound until I get the feathers cleared." 

"Oh, umm, well, of course. I'm always happy to lend a hoof. But I really need to go give Marline her flea treatment."

"Marline?"

"She's a manticore." Fluttershy smiled sweetly. "Rather nice, but she just didn't keep up with her mane, and rather than leave her itching for a long time, I was going to give her a nice mane-wash. With flea treatment."

Daring raised an eyebrow and smiled. A pony who could handle a manticore by herself?  "And you couldn't handle 5 griffons?"

Fluttershy blushed, looking away. "Well... they were already mad... And Marline is nice."

"Whatever you say. So, you need the bucket for the mane-wash?" Fluttershy nodded mutely. "I just need some way to handle this little problem without touching it, and I'll hand it right over. So what part of Equestria am I in?" Daring picked up the bucket in her mouth, looking to Fluttershy for the path to follow.

Fluttershy sighed. She really wanted to go help Marline, but... well...  "You're in the Everfree forest. Near Ponyville." She thought, then pointed weakly back towards her home. "I... um... I live right over there. I might have another bucket."

Daring nodded. "Well, lead on!"

"Oh. Um. Yes." Fluttershy blushed and nodded, leading the legendary archaeologist to her humble cottage. Daring kept a weather eye on her surroundings, seeming pleasantly impressed by the flora and fauna of the Everfree; what little presented itself willingly, anyway.

Angel Bunny was tapping his foot in annoyance with his arms crossed. Fluttershy eeped as she walked forward nervously, head hanging down. Daring simply raised an eyebrow. "Who's the bunny?"

"Oh, this is Angel. He helps me a lot around the house, and..." Angel gestured at Daring, chittering. "Well yes, I wasn't planning to help another pony." Angel made another series of noises, making washing gestures. "Yes, I just needed to get another bucket, Angel." Angel gave her a very steady look. "N-no Angel, I didn't just let her take over. There's just this weird thing we found." She nodded to the bucket Daring was holding. "It's a little unsafe-" Angel of course hopped closer for a better look, before leaping up and balancing on the bucket's rim. Fluttershy's eyes widened with a gasp of surprise.

Daring went wide-eyed. "Careful bunny!"

"Angel, don't-!" Fluttershy exclaimed in surprise as Angel grabbed for the glowing pile of stones, vanishing. "...oh dear..."


~*~


Daring looked up at the typewriter as the manuscript began to glow again. Of course, just as she decided to make herself some kind of snack. She rolled her eyes, crunching down on some fresh hay-fries, starting to read along.

The griffons tensed as the air shimmered again, preparing themselves to grab the interloper. As the light flashed they lunged for the pony!
Only to find themselves colliding in midair over a rather confused white rabbit holding the artifact. He skittered out of the way with his prize, raising a paw at the griffons and chittering at them in rage. He kicked a rock from the rubble pile Fluttershy had previously been sliding down back at the knot of angry predators, even as same started to untangle themselves. He looked quickly from the mass of angry feathers and talons to the crack in the wall Fluttershy had previously kicked the artifact through and, with a firm paw grasping the artifact, took off in a lapin scuttle.
Angel Bunny wasn't sure what had happened, but he was sure it was related to Fluttershy's incomplete warning. His brow furrowed as he dashed down another hole in the wall, thankful the rotting state of the ruins was unfinished. Strong carved rock walls with pressure cracks or weight fissures created gaps that had only been overrun by vegetation where sunlight and water found access. No rats or other animals saw fit to challenge his dominance of the tunnels, or even so much as appear, and he was unwilling to stop running until he found a more defensible position against those griffons.
He sighed as he pulled to a stop in a room with a collapsed doorway. He wasn't known for his patience at the best of times, but when suddenly faced with a threat, well...
He hefted the artifact around with an annoyed grunt, glaring at the innocent looking bunch of fused stones. Fluttershy had been bringing odder and odder things home since that draconequus.
He shook the pile of stones in frustration.
Nothing so much as rattled.
He smacked the stones against the stonework around him.
The wall carvings showed more wear than the artifact did.
He gnawed on it in rampaging fury!
He really wasn't sure why he tried that after the wall failed.
He rubbed his jaw in response to the obvious discomfort of biting down on a semi-indestructible magic artifact with a sigh. Another case where his knee-jerk response to try and get something done or set-up for Fluttershy had backfired. The poor pony needed someone to give her a swift kick on occasion, and by the Great Warren if nobody else would do it, he would! He just needed to remember to do it a bit more delicately. Which wasn't exactly in his personality.
He sighed, drop kicking the artifact in annoyance, illustrating his point. Much to his surprise, it managed to lodge itself in a hole partway up the wall. Angel facepawed with an audible smack. Now how was he going to get that thing down?
He glared around the room, as usual completely undeterred by his own lack of size. After a moment's consideration he kicked a somewhat more fragile looking piece of wall, causing the limited connection between the carved figure of a griffon and the moss holding it against the rock wall all these years to dissolve. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it at least gave him a little extra height. Using the carving as a pole vaulting pole, Angel propelled himself into the air; his paw barely grazing the artifact as it began to glow slightly. A moment later, the dead-end room was illuminated by the flash of light and shimmer of air that had become the artifact's calling card.

Daring chewed over another hay fry as she considered the most recent protagonist. 

A bunny? A violent bunny?

Well, it did have potential for some kind of story, but made no sense in this case. And most certainly not for pinning down who this 'Fluttershy' was and what might have happened.
She sighed, and contemplated her hay fries. 

Popcorn. I should make some popcorn.