Interestingly, when you kill a manticore on your own, the application process for joining the Ranger Reserves is quite expedited. Of course, it may have helped that I had a recommendation from one of the heirs to the Equestrian throne.
Anyway, all I had to do was show them my weapons, which consisted of summoning a demon battle ax, and my silver flame, which I had been practicing for five days straight before hand. They were impressed, and I was given a special bracelet that would vibrate when a warning was sent out and tug in the direction of the call.
The job came with a small monthly stipend – not enough to live off of, but it would help –, and a commission for fighting off monsters, more if you use non-lethal methods. The Rangers try not to kill the monsters unless they keep coming back to populated areas or are a particular threat.
I even got a bounty on that manticore I killed. It wasn't much, but combined with my income from my job at the cafe and Twilight’s testing, it was enough to move out of Twilight's and into my own place. It was a small place with only a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom, but it was mine.
My furniture consisted of a mattress on the floor, and an old couch a mare down the road was getting rid of in favor of a new one. The kitchen was nice, though, with a new stove, a large fridge, and plenty of cabinet space. It was definitely what sold me on it.
Anyway, things were rather quiet. I was settling in, working at the cafe, and doing other odd jobs to save up enough to get actual things to put in my house. I did this for nearly a week before anything interesting happened.
I was just coming home from the market, having gotten a great deal on a freshly caught salmon, when Fluttershy approached me.
“How's it goin’, Fluttershy?” I greeted.
“Hello, Shiro,” she returned. “I hope you've been having a lovely day.”
“Ah have, thank ya, kindly,” I said. “Ah got a feelin’ you need to speak with me.”
“Oh... yes,” She blushed, shyly, half hiding behind her mane. “Um, some of my animal friends saw signs of timberwolves near the road to Canterlot, and a pony a few hours out, heading to town. The tracks aren't too close, but do you think you could just make sure whoever that is gets here safe?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said. “You mind takin’ these for me?”
“Of course. Beaksworth is keeping an eye out. He has my beacon and will activate it if anything happens, so there's no rush, I just have a bad feeling.”
“Alright, thanks.” I took off my saddle bags – which I might add are not made with tigers in mind – and handed them off to the pegasus before taking off at a quick jog.
I moved quickly through town, some ponies greeting me, some moving nervously to the other side of the road. I returned the gestures of the former, ignored the later, and soon found myself on the road toward Canterlot.
It was approaching the end of autumn, and the leaves were in full color and soon the running of the leaves would be taking place. Contrary to the show, it doesn't really knock the leaves from the trees, but it is a tradition dating back to when it was believed that it loosened the remaining leaves to allow them to fall.
It was a pleasant, if uneventful, walk. Eventually, I could see the pony in the distance. It was at that moment, something hit me. I was about to approach a lone pony in the middle of nowhere, and I'm a tiger. They might not take to my appearance well.
Perhaps I should follow from the shadows? I thought, but that could frighten the pony even more if they notice me. They might think I was stalking them.
Maybe I could try to approach in a non-threatening manner? The problem with that was actually doing that. How does a predator the size of a pony approach a pony non-threateningly?
Maybe I could lay down on my back, relax, and wait for them to come to me? That could work, but they might just turn tail and run as soon as they saw me.
My thoughts were cut off by the sudden buzz of my bracelet. It seemed I no longer had the luxury of a plan. With a growl, I took off. All I could do was call out to the pony and hope they listened.
As I neared, the pony tensed, ready to bolt at the sight of me.
“Timberwolves!” I yelled out, causing the pony to freeze.
Apparently seeing that as their opportunity, three wolves leaped from the treeline. The pony looked back, seeing the arboreal predators, and took a step toward me before looking at me and taking a step back, unable to decide which was the least dangerous path.
“Run!” I yelled.
That seemed to help make the pony's mind up, as it bolted in my direction. I could hear the pony screaming, now. She – a mare if the voice was any indication – wasn't fast enough, and one caught her right hind leg in its jaws, bringing the mare down. Judging by the scream of agony, it likely broke a bone.
With a furious, bellowing roar, I put on all the speed I could muster. That had the benefit of drawing the wolves attention before they could finish their prey off. With their eyes on me, I rose on two legs and summoned up my silver flame to envelop my fists.
The three wolves lunged at me, the first taking a full forced punch to the face. Its head shattered, putting it out of the fight and launching it into the second. The third, however, managed to avoid its kin and tackled me to the ground.
I barely managed to put my forearm between the wolf's sap dripping maw and my throat. It caught the beast off guard and gave me time to act before it bit down. I pressed forward, pushing my arm deeper into its mouth, and forcing the wolf's jaws open. With my other paw, I grabbed the upper jaw, my thumb in the gap between its front and back teeth, and pried open. With my arm free, I grabbed the lower jaw in that paw, and pulled as hard as I could, ripping the bottom clean off.
“That's what y’all get for not having ligaments!” I yelled.
It sounded so much better in my head.
Taking advantage of my distraction, I was blindsided by the second wolf, the one that was knocked back by the first. It grabbed me by my left arm, but unlike the last wolf, it bit down hard. I felt and heard a painful crack.
I roared in pain, and my silver flame flared, instinctively, covering my entire body. The wolf released me and yelped, pawing at his muzzle to extinguish the flames. Once the fire was out, the wolf turned tail and ran back into the forest.
I stood there with my ears swiveling and eyes scanning the trees, watching for any threats until I was sure they were gone. Still keeping my ears open, I walked over to the mare, clutching my broken arm. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, it was starting to throb.
The mare looked up at me with a touch of fear.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Y-yeah,” she said, quietly. “Um... Thank you.”
I smiled down at her, making sure I didn't show my teeth. “Ah just wish Ah got here a few seconds sooner.”
I looked at her leg and winced. It was obviously broken.
“I've had worse,” she said with pain in her voice.
Getting a good look at her, I could tell she wasn't kidding. She had thin lines in her fur, suggesting scars hidden by her khaki fur, but the it wasn't the scars that surprised me. It was the fact that she had the cloven hooves and lion-like tail of a unicorn, but where her horn should have been, a small, two inch stub poked out. A part of me wanted to ask, but I wasn't a douchebag.
“Come on,” I said as I tore my attention away. “Let's get you to a hospital.”
“How?”
I stopped. I was going to offer to carry her, but I doubted I could with one arm without further injuring her leg.
“Never mind.” I thought for a little bit, trying to think of something. “Can you walk at all?”
“Maybe,” the mare said. She slowly struggled to her hooves, hissing in pain, and took a step.
“Gah!” she cried, collapsing to her rump.
“Are you okay?!” I rushed to her side, forgetting my own injury. “Ah!” I ate dirt when my arm gave out.
“Hey, don't hurt yourself any more than you already did,” the mare said in concern.
“Ah guess we're stuck here, for a little bit,” I said in disappointment. “Unless...”
An idea struck me. I sat sat down and lifted my paw. I willed my silver flame around my paw. I had never tried this, but I figured there was a first time for everything.
With the mare looking in awe and curiosity, I willed the flame from around my paw into my palm. It obeyed my command, forming a ball. I raised it above my head, and...
Nothing. Damn. I really hoped that would work.
Thinking quickly, I dug deeper and willed my magic, Do something!
I snapped my fingers and a red ball of fire streaked from my paw into the sky, flying straight up before it exploded into a cloud of sparks at my will.
“It worked!” I cheered.
“Oh Celestia, that was silver fire, wasn't it? What you did before the firework? You really are a Tigiran,” the mare said in awe.
I looked back to her in shock. “You know what a Tigiran is?”
“I read about it in an ancient tome found in some ruins from the Crystal Empire,” she said, as if admitting to stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.
“Well, hell, maybe you can teach me something,” I said. “Princess Celestia didn't really say much... though that wasn't entirely her fault.” The last bit came out a little more like a confession than I intended.
“I can imagine,” the mare said. “I take it she didn't take your presence too well.”
I laughed mirthlessly at that. “Understatement of the year, right there,” I said scathingly before catching myself, looking away in shame. “... Sorry. It’s kinda a sore subject for me.”
“It's okay,” she said. “I shouldn't have brought it up.”
“Sorry, it's just... It wasn't pleasant,” I said.
We sat there in awkward silence for a time, me remembering that horrible first encounter, her likely regretting bringing up what was obviously a bad memory. Looking toward Ponyville, I could see a small group of ponies running up the road, lead by a yellow speck hovering just above the ground.
I let out a chuckle.
“This is a pretty bad first mission with the Rangers, huh?” I asked, sarcastically.
The mare laughed, too. “Yeah, it could have been better, but at least you saved the girl.” She scooted over and leaned in, giving me a peck on the cheek.
I blushed a little, rubbing the spot her lips were.
“Thanks,” she said. “I owe you.”
“No problem,” I said before realizing something.
“By the way,” I extended my good paw with a smile. “Mah name is Shirotora, but mah friends call me Shiro.”
The mare smiled back. “Jynx Charm... That's Jynx with a 'y'.”
She took my paw.
I had a feeling the two of us would be good friends.