//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: A Professional Rescue // Story: Downed and Daring // by 8thekhip //------------------------------//         Erik awoke with a gasp, perspiration rolling down his forehead and making his ragged clothing cling to his body. Pulsing tendrils of pain forced their way through his every pore, spiking in time with his hammering heart and blinding him to all other sensations.         When the pain finally subsided, he allowed himself a moment to slow down his breathing and, by extension, heart. It was that same dream again. The voice had come once more as the dead eyes glared at him. It had asked him something… something important. He couldn’t remember what it had been.         Even now, details of the dream were fading from his mind, leaving him only with a feeling of helplessness and terror, and the image of those eyes, looking up from the passenger seat, not letting him look away, staring, glaring, accusatory, never to leave him—         He slapped himself. Hard. The sound of the slap rang out in the air, and the sharp pain that it produced pulled his mind out of that traitorous loop. He sat up, wiping sweat from his brow and swallowing heavily. There was something more important that he had to do. Something he was planning….         Ahuizotl. Yes. He was going to kill Ahuizotl. He threw off the thin sheet that covered him and stood up shakily from where he lay on the floor. He stumbled over to the door and placed his hand on the handle, then paused. No, no. This wouldn’t do.         He shook himself again, throwing off the last vestiges of unconsciousness and handing the reigns of his mind to lucidity once again. He had to make sure that Daring was asleep first. He couldn’t let her know that he was leaving. She had been good to him thus far, but he couldn’t drag her into this.         Besides, it’s not like he could leave without the Stick of Salvation and the book she had given him.         This decided, he turned back towards the interior of the house and made his way over to the staircase, at the top of which was Daring’s room. He took a deep breath and began his ascent, attempting to step lightly to avoid triggering any creaking noises. He would just check to make sure she was asleep, then he would slip out the front door. Easy.         A loud squeal rang out as he put his foot down, prompting him to cringe and listen intently for any sign that Daring had awoken. Nothing. He stifled a sigh of relief before it could escape his lips and continued on.         After what seemed an eternity, he made his way high enough up the stairs that he could peak into the room and see Daring’s bed. Sure enough, there was a misshapen lump in the covers, which rose and fell steadily with each of Daring’s breaths.         Satisfied that she wasn’t secretly waiting outside to ambush him as he walked out the door, he made his way back down the stairs with vigilance equal to that of his ascent. As he reached the bottom of the steps, he paused to grab SoS. He then looked down to where Daring’s book lay and frowned as he picked it up and inspected it.         It was too dark to make out any words, but that wasn’t the purpose of his inspection. No, what he needed to do was figure out how in the heck he was supposed to carry this thing around with him while he carried out his plot of vengeance. Preferably without it getting destroyed in the process.         The book was too big to fit in any of his pockets, and he could hardly be expected to just keep it tucked under his arm at all times. So, as any good problem solver would do, he began to look around for something to carry the book in. A bag, or a backpack, or a… hey, that was a nice looking satchel.         He crept over to the seemingly empty satchel and took it in his hands. It was sturdy enough, and a quick probe through its interior proved that it was indeed empty. He paused for a moment to think over whether or not stealing the satchel was necessary. This mostly consisted of him making up excuses and throwing them haphazardly at his unyielding conscience.         I really could you something to carry this book in! He pleaded.         No. His conscience responded.         But I could use it for other supplies, too. Like water!         No.         It would be so useful, though….         No.         …Pretty please?         No.         Finally, bruised, battered and beaten, he withdrew from the battle with his conscience. Fine, he though bitterly, you win.         He set the satchel back down and turned to the door, eyeing it for a moment before striding over. Behind that door lay danger, pain, adventure, and revenge. Behind that door also lay betrayal, for if he crossed that threshold, he would be betraying Daring’s trust. Not to mention the fact that he owed his life to her about twice—no, thrice—over, now.         With one final look back at the interior of the cabin, Erik turned the handle and pushed the door open. Then, looking out into the still dark forest, seeing the dark sky, tinted ever so slightly orange with the dawn, he stepped out to fulfill his destin—         “And where exactly do you think you’re going?”         He spun around and jumped away, letting out a rather [un]manly yelp as he did so. “D-Daring!” He stammered.         “M-me.” She agreed.         “I was, uh… I was…” Erik began, his mind struggling to come up with some kind of at least partially reasonable excuse for his behavior. “Using the bathroom!” He yelled, perhaps louder than he should have, plastering a grin on his face.         “…The bathroom.”         “Why, yes! It’s usually considered hygienic to relieve oneself after awakening!”         “So… you’re going to the bathroom.”         “Yep!”         “At about six in the morning…”         “Uh-huh.”         “In the middle of the rainforest…”         “Er… yes.”         “Which also happens to be one of the most dangerous places in all of Equestria?”         Erik’s grin faltered somewhat. “Yes. All of that.”         Daring continued staring at him. “You do realize that I have a bathroom inside, right?”         Erik’s mind once more began scrambling in a vain attempt to hold the pieces of his ill-conceived excuse together as it began crumbling around him. “Real men go in the bushes!” He blurted.         Awkward silence fell upon the two of them. Daring continued to stare straight into his eyes as he began to sweat and avert his gaze, no longer able to contend with Daring’s freakishly huge eyes.         Soon, the silence grew to be too much for Erik. “Okay, fine! I was leaving so that I could track down Ahuizotl, and get—” he paused for the briefest of moments, “figure out how to get home! You happy now?”         Daring finally averted her gaze and sighed. “I figured you might try something like this. Listen, Erik, I get that this means a lot to you, but… I mean, did you even have a plan?”         Erik bit his lip. “Well, I figured that I’d go back to where we fought him earlier and just kind of… track him down?”         Daring’s facehoof rang out it the relative silence of the jungle. “This is what I’m talking about. You can’t just go out and do things! There’s always a process that you have to go through, and part of that process is planning! Did you even think to pack any food?”         Erik shook his head sheepishly. “No. I, er… I didn’t want to take any from you.”         Daring grumbled something under her breath about a satchel, which just made Erik feel more guilty, before responding. “Erik, I want to stop Ahuizotl as much as you do—” Daring was cut off by a suddenly vehement Erik, all traces of guilt gone from his voice.         “No, Daring! This-this is important to me! I have to stop him and get home!” He turned away from her. “I don’t expect you to be able to understand.”         He was surprised as Daring hit him on the arm. While she probably didn’t intend to hurt him, being hit at high speeds by what is essentially a bludgeon in a location that had very recently been chewed on by a large predator tends to be painful in the extreme.         “Gah!” He cried out, favoring his arm and dropping to one knee. His state of disorientation was only compounded upon as something was shoved into his face.         “Really? Have you read even a word of this book?”         “Ow….” He whimpered.         “Because if you had,” Daring continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his eyes were watering with pain and he was making several high pitched squeaking noises. “then you would know that I’ve been in this valley fighting Ahuizotl for eight years, now! Eight  years! Thwarting plot after plot after plot, making sure that the hundreds of dangerous magical artifacts in this jungle don’t fall into his or one of the other countless villains that come heres’ hooves! If anyone has a reason to hate Ahuizotl, it’s me. I’ve seen what he can do time and time again, and—”         “I’m sorry.”         She stopped. “What?”         “I said I’m sorry.” Erik repeated. “I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble. I’m sorry for putting you in harm’s way because of my own stupidity. I’m sorry that I’ve been relying on you when I should have been picking myself back up. And most of all, I’m sorry that I’m letting myself forget that my problems aren’t the only problems.”         Daring pulled the book out of his face. “Well then, if that’s the case, you actually didn’t let me finish earlier.”         Erik raised an eyebrow, still holding his throbbing arm.         “I want to stop Ahuizotl as much as you do.” She said again, “Which is why I’ve decided to follow up on our lead.”         “The amulet?” Erik asked, bemused. “How are we supposed to follow up on that? We don’t even know who has it anymore.”         “Well,” Daring began, “when you live somewhere for eight years you tend to meet a few ponies along the way. One of those ponies is named Professor Silver Scroll, a scholar from Canterlot, and he came out here a while ago for some ‘field study’.”         “Okay…?” Erik prompted.         “Basically, if you ever want to know anything about some obscure magical artifact that nopony’s seen for the past thousand years, you ask the Prof. So, the plan is, we go to him and ask him about the amulet, and maybe we can figure out how to get you home. It’ll bring us one step closer, at least.”         Erik nodded slowly, before springing to his feet, grinning wide. “Well then, what are we waiting for?” He asked. “We’re off to see the Prof!”         Daring’s facehoof was loud enough to cause several colorful birds in a nearby tree to take flight. -- One hour later…         “I thought you said he lived nearby!” Erik complained as he stumbled over a fallen sapling, the satchel that Daring had given him swaying at his side. He felt even worse about almost stealing it now that she had done so, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? It certainly did its job of helping him carry his book, which he had still yet to read.         “He does,” Daring said, pushing a low hanging branch out of her way. “it just takes longer to get places when you’re walking through the jungle.”         Erik blocked the branch before it could whip him in the face, a skill which he had been forced to develop quickly. “Fine, then. Can’t we at least do something to pass the time?”         “You want me to tell you about the Prof, right?”         “Er… I was going to suggest we play I spy, but that works to. In fact, that’s better.”         “Well,” Daring began, “the Prof is… enigmatic. It’s hard to really tell you anything concrete about him, but he does enjoy talking ponies’ ears off.”         Erik nodded from behind Daring. “So, your classic crazy professor.” Already, a mental image had formed in his mind. No doubt he’d have tangled white hair, goggles, and live in some kind of laboratory. Wait, no, that was a mad scientist.         “Not really. To be honest, I find him really uptight, like most ponies from the Canterlot upper crust, except for… well, let’s just say that he has his quirks.”         “What kind of q—” Erik began, only to be silenced by a hoof to the mouth. Fortunately, all of his teeth survived. Unfortunately, he was now tasting everything that Daring had walked in over the past… however long it had been since Daring last washed her hooves.         “Shhh.” She said, taking her hoof out of his mouth and getting low. “I heard something.” She brushed some foliage aside to get a better look at what was ahead while Erik attempted to cleanse his tastebuds.         Just in front of them was a shack quite similar to Daring’s own, the key difference being that the roof was shingled rather than thatched. Erik crouched down to Daring’s level and peered over her shoulder.         What he saw was a white stallion being lead away by a group of Ponies and… well, the word that was coming to mind was Griffons. He’d ask Daring what they were later.         Right now, he had to help that pony—whom he suspected was his best bet for getting home at the moment. He moved forwards, only to be rebuffed by Daring’s forehoof, which had appeared in front of him.         “What are you doing!” She hissed at him. “We can’t take them all at once! Besides, if we wait and follow them, we might be able to figure out who they work for and why they want the Prof.”         Erik frowned, but nodded, consenting to the pegasus’s logic. “So,” he whispered to her, “how often do coincidences like this happen to you?”         Daring continued to watch the thugs drag the Professor further into the foliage. “What? Coincidence?”         “Yeah,” Erik whispered back, “we were walking through the jungle for nearly an hour, and we just happen to arrive right as he’s getting kidnapped?”         Daring frowned, though she didn’t turn towards him. “No, this kind of thing happens all of the time. It’s not a coincidence, it’s just… the way things are, I guess.”         “Must make life a bit more interesting.”         Daring snorted. “You don’t know the half of it.” Then she stood up, her shoulder hitting Erik’s nose as she did so. “C’mon, let’s follow them.”         Erik, clutching his nose and attempting to not yell at her, followed behind as she set off after the henchmen.         After about ten minutes, Erik was certain that the ponies they were following were deaf, as it seemed to him that every leaf and twig he stepped on sounded out as loudly as a gunshot. Erik had no such aural inhibitions, and heard the henchmen’s banter quite clearly, not to mention Silver Scroll’s loud complaining.         “I demand you release me at once, you dirty fillystines! How dare you abduct a scholar!”         “Ah, shuddup!” One of the griffons said. “Bite yer tongue or we’ll bite it for ya!”         “But Prime,” Wailed a small pony, “I dun wanna bite ‘is tongue. That’d be gross!”         The griffon, Prime, turned to glare at the pony, growling deep in his throat. “You shuddup too, Slip, ‘less ya want latrine duty fer the rest o’ the month!”         “Oy,” another, larger pony said, joining the conversation. “Go easy on me bro, you know ‘e ain’t quite right in th’ ‘ead.”         The griffon snorted, and opened his beak to respond just as the Prof began to speak again. “I’ve already demanded to be released three times. If you’re not going to heed me in that regard, at least tell me what it is that you want from me.”         “Oh, you’ll see in jus’ a bit.” The griffon said, before letting out a ragged peal of laughter.         They continued on like that for some time, and in all honesty it was driving Erik absolutely insane. The professor was right there, his captors were deaf, and they were in the perfect position to attack. Yet Daring just crouched and walked along in front of him, somehow managing to move silently across the forest floor, despite her hooves. It was infuriating.         Not to mention the fact that the thugs had the most annoying accents. Was that supposed to be some kind of cross between Cockney and Piratespeak?         Erik’s thoughts, as was inevitably bound to happen at some point, began to wander. Needless to say, he was invested in deep contemplation on butterflies when Daring held her foreleg out to stop him once more. Due to this, coupled with the fact that Daring’s foreleg came up to his stomach, he had the wind knocked out of him and nearly fell over before he came back to himself.         “Hey—” He began, only to be silenced by a hoof in the mouth for the second time that day.         Daring hushed him sharply, gesturing with her head towards the kidnappers. Erik turned to see what she wanted to show him, and frowned deeply as he observed that he had somehow failed to notice that they were standing right outside a fairly large campsite, complete with a fire burning at its center.         The professor stood at the head of the group, shuffling awkwardly now that he was no longer being led forward. Movement from the entrance of a sizable tent caught Erik’s attention, prompting him to look over as a large grey griffon sauntered over. His most striking feature was undoubtedly his intensely scarred face. It looked like it had gone through a meat grinder. Or maybe he’d decided to high five a tiger. With his face.         His beak stretched into a savage grin as he saw the professor. How a beak could stretch was beyond Erik, but he decided that it was best not to question the laws of this place.         “Alright, ya louts, fer once I gotta give it to ye, you’ve done good.”         A ragged cheer broke out amongst the assembled henchmen—Erik debated for a moment whether they were actually henchponies or henchgriffons, but decided that using familiar vernacular was probably bound to be a great deal less confusing—only to be silenced a moment later by a fierce glare from Scar-face.         “Don’t be celebratin’ just yet. We gotta get ‘im to th’ employer first—he ain’t paid us yet, and he ain’t payin’ fer nothin’, so you’d best get t’ work guardin’ th’ prisoner ya lazy hatchlin’s!”         “Aye aye, Hook, sir!” The henchmen shout enthusiastically.         The professor was soon shepherded into a nearby tent, with two guards, one of whom Erik recognized as Prime, standing watch at the entrance, staring resolutely ahead. With that done, the leader, Hook, nodded and reentered his own tent.         Daring got his attention and motioned for him to move further back. Once they were out of the hearing distance of those in the camp, she began to whisper to him. “Okay, we have three of them patrolling and two of them guarding the entrance. Any ideas?”         “I thought you were the one with all the plans.” Erik grumbled.         Daring rolled her eyes. “Well, if we’re working together you might as well pull your own weight.”         Erik consented to her point. No more taking advantage of her hospitality—now was his time to prove that he was worth something.         “Well,” he began, “they’re only guarding the front of the tent, and they don’t actually have anyone inside. Maybe we could try to cut our way into the back of the tent or something?”         Daring took a moment to consider, before shaking her head. “No, they’re bound to hear us if we do that. Though,” she furrowed her brow in thought, “the idea does have merit. I think there’s a way we can make this work.”         I suddenly saw where this was heading. “Wait, you don’t mean to suggest—I’m not gonna be—”         Daring nodded. “Bait.”         Erik slumped his shoulders, defeated. He wasn’t going to argue against it after that whole “pull your own weight” thing. “Fine.” He said, “What do you want me to do?”         Daring grinned. --         “This is a stupid plan.” Erik murmured to himself bitterly, before plastering a smile on his face and raising his voice to an unrealistic pitch. “‘Oh!’ She says, ‘just go make a few noises and run through the campsite while I take my sweet time!’”         He grit his teeth and furrowed his brow. There was nothing for it, he supposed. Best to just get it out of the way. He glanced back to where Daring was crouched, waiting for the signal. She grinned and waved her hoof back at him. That was it.         He took a deep breath in. Well, here goes nothing.         He sprinted forwards through the camp, yelling loudly and flailing his arms. Hopefully they’d assume he was some kind of freaky wild animal. And hopefully they would also assume that his head wouldn’t look very good hanging over their mantle.         The henchmen all let out cries of surprise as he shot past them, knocking one over as he did so. It took all his willpower not to look back as he heard the sounds of pursuit start up behind him. His mind was filled with an endless mantra as he pumped his legs for all they were worth.         Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap!         “Oy!” He heard one of them shout from behind him, “would ya lookit that, Slip! You think it’d look good in th’ taxidermy collection?”         His false animalistic bellowing was soon replaced with very real cries of abject horror. Why would they have a taxidermy collection? That was just… just wrong! He cursed himself as he ran. This was a stupid plan.         Finally, he could take it no more, and risked a glance backwards just in time to see Daring leading a very confused Silver Scroll out of the front of the tent. Apparently, his distraction had proved sufficient to draw even the guards away, meaning that Daring didn’t even have to be sneaky about it.         It also meant that he was now being chased by no less than five thugs, some of whom had wings. He mentally reviewed the plan in his mind. 1) Create distraction 2) Lose any pursuers 3) Rendezvous with Daring         Erik decided that he was a bit hung up on step two. It would have been nice if there had been a bit more elaboration on how exactly he was supposed to do that. But of course, hindsight is 20/20.         His thoughts were interrupted rather abruptly as he tripped over a fallen branch, face planting spectacularly. He rolled over and looked back just in time to see… wait, where did all the henchmen go?         He stood up shakily and brushed himself off, adrenaline still being pumped through his system. He glanced from side to side, but saw nothing. He strained his ears, and heard shouting in the distance.         Something rustled in the bushes to his left, causing him to yelp and jump about three feet in the air.         “Shhh!” Came Daring’s harsh whisper as she came out from behind the bushes. Behind her was the professor, whose eyes were squeezed shut as his horn emitted brilliant silver sparks from its tip. Just as he had taken all this in, the light vanished, and he reopened his eyes and sighed in exhaustion.         “C’mon!” Daring hissed, waving a foreleg over her shoulder as she turned around and began to trot through the woods.         “Wait, wait!” Erik said, whispering loudly, “What just happened? How did—?”         “That would be my doing!” Silver Scroll said, grinning and looking up at me. “Daring Do informed me that the ape creature sprinting through the woods was actually an ally, so I projected an image of you to distract your pursuers.”         “Oh.” Erik said. There really wasn’t much else that he could think to say. Especially now that it was finally dawning on him that the pony that trotted along beside him was, in fact, a unicorn.         “So, Double D, are we by chance regrouping in my study?”         Daring shot the professor a look that could make plants whither. “Don’t call me that, Scroll. And yes, but not for long. Just long enough to grab your notes and get out.”         “My notes?” Scoll said, sounding offended, “You wound me! Am I nothing more than a resource to you?”         Daring just rolled her eyes and began looking ahead again. “Stop it with the melodrama, Scroll. I need your help to figure out a way to send Erik home.”         “Erik?” The professor asked, confused.         Erik cleared his throat. “That, ah, that would be me.”         “Oh!” The unicorn exclaimed, earning a violent shush from Daring, “How terribly rude of me!” He cleared his throat and stopped in front of me, causing me to stumble as I halted my horizontal momentum. “A pleasure to meet you Erik, my name is Silver Scroll, professor of ancient magical artifacts at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”         “Er…” Erik began tactfully, “The pleasure is mutual. I’m Erik Herris, incredibly lost and confused wildlife photographer.”         “Now that introductions are out of the way,” Daring said from a bit ahead of them, “why don’t we go make sure that the good professor’s life’s work isn’t stolen while we’re chatting!”         “Oh my!” The professor exclaimed. “They wouldn’t dare!”         “I’m afraid they would.” Daring said. “So let’s hurry up!”         The rest of the trip was silent, save for the sounds that Erik made every time he stumbled over a root, and whenever he slapped at a mosquito. It wasn’t long before they arrived at Silver Scroll’s cabin, grabbed his “notes,” which were in actuality several huge boxes full of assorted papers, and began to lug them back to Daring’s home.         Erik spent most of the return trip envying the professor’s ability to just float the boxes along beside him, and collapsed immediately upon walking through Daring’s door.         “Never,” he panted from where he lay, “make me do that again. Do you know how heavy that box was? And it took over an hour to get back!”         “Oh, stop complaining,” Daring said, “it’s your own fault you’re out of shape.”         “Quite.” The professor agreed, looking no worse for wear.         And Erik had thought academic types were supposed to be the ones with no endurance. He silently resolved to get more fit even as he cursed their names.         “Alright,” Scroll began, “what artifact were you hoping to look into? It wouldn’t happen to be the Demon’s Amulet, would it?”         Daring raised an incredulous eyebrow. “We were looking for an amulet, yes. Apparently Ahuizotl used one to summon Erik here. How did you know that?”         The professor frowned, “Just something those ruffians who abducted me mentioned. And by that I mean they demanded I tell them about it. When I refused, they shoved that sack over my head and led me blindly through the woods!” He snorted in disdain.         “So what does it do?” Daring asked, getting straight to the point.         “Well, I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head, unfortunately. It happens to be a truly ancient artifact—from the Discordant era. I’ll have to find it in my notes to tell you any more than that.”         Erik finally picked himself up off the floor, reasserting some of his usual flippancy. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s get a-searching!”         It was nearly an hour later when the professor let out a triumphant “Aha!” and pulled out a yellowed piece of parchment. Soon, Erik, Daring and Scroll had maneuvered across the floor—now littered with papers—to Daring’s table, where they all looked at the parchment. Erik frowned as he realized that he couldn’t even begin to decipher the text.         “What language is this even written in?” He asked.         Daring glanced up at him with surprise. “Equish—it just uses the Old Equish alphabet. You can’t read it? You’re supposed to learn this stuff in kindergarten.”         Erik snorted. “I can read normal English just fine. Why would you need to have two different alphabets anyway?” He groaned in frustration. “I should probably stop being bothered by how messed up this world is, but… it’s really starting to get to me.”         Silver Scroll cleared his throat, capturing their attention once more. “Moving on, let’s see what we can discover, shall we?” With that, he began reading. “The Demon Amulet, or Demon’s Amulet. An incredibly dangerous artifact from the Discordant Era said to summon an army of demons. It was given to an evil unicorn king named ‘Darkness,’ or ‘Shadow.’ I believe that it’s referring to King Sombra here.” “Either way, he received it from a powerful being from Tartarus, and used it in an attempt to overthrow Discord. Unfortunately for him, it seems that the army it summoned was unaligned, and turned on him. The demons were eventually sent back to their own realm when Princess Luna herself used the amulet shortly before she and Celestia defeated the Spirit of Chaos for good.”         “I’m not a demon.” Erik pointed out. “Are you sure this is the right Amulet?”         The professor snorted. “You think ponies would know the difference after seeing you for the first time?”         “I… guess not.” Erik agreed grudgingly. “So what, we have to find the amulet and use it again? That’ll get me home?”         “It’s safe to assume that it would.” The professor said.         Daring clapped Erik on the back. “Looks like we know how to get you back! Now all we have to do is figure out who sent those thugs, track them down and recover the amulet!”         “Yes, nothing difficult.” Erik grumbled sarcastically. Nevertheless, he allowed himself a small smile. It might not be an easy one to travel, but he’d finally found a path home.         “Well, then!” Said Daring enthusiastically. “Tomorrow we go back to that camp and see if we can find a few clues.”         “Let’s just hope that it goes better than last time.” Erik said. “I don’t fancy being added to somebody’s taxidermy collection.”         With the plan agreed upon, Daring scrounged up another pillow and some sheets for the professor—who complained quite vocally at the lack of a mattress—and they laid down to rest up for tomorrow. It was, after all, another big day.         Erik could only hope his sleep would be dreamless.