The Ranger's Journey

by Silentpegasus


Chapter V: The Club

Chapter V

The Club.

Crimson paid the mayor for his new home and filled out the proper paperwork. The man had selected to live in the clock tower at the center of town. It was up and running. Luckily the living quarters had a sound proof enchantment around it so the sounds of the bells were drown out. The living arrangements were simple. One bathroom, a kitchen connected to the living room and a bedroom was at the top and had an incredible view of the town.

If it was one thing Crimson loved about the place it was the view. He ascended the staircase and made his way to the balcony. He could see all of Ponyville from his room. The sun was just beginning to rise and he heard a voice coming from below. He looked down towards the door to see Twilight, Rarity and Applejack.

“What’s up?” He yelled down to the three girls. The trio looked up in surprise to see the man leaning over the balcony.

“We heard that ya just moved in.” AJ hollered.

“I’ll be right down.” The three waited patiently for the man to unlock the door. Rarity put her hands on her hips and looked up. Her sapphire eyes shrank to the size of pin tips as she saw the man vault off the balcony and fall towards them.

The other girls all shrieked in horror as they saw the man rocketing towards them. Crimson smirked and his gauntlet started to glow a bright red. He raised his left arm and a red beam attached itself to the balcony’s edge. Crimson used his weight to swing around the tower. He landed with a quick summersault and stood up. “What?” He said as the three girls glared at him.

“You could have died!” Twilight yelled.

“I’ve jumped off higher buildings.” He said as he cracked his neck. He side stepped the seamstress and inserted a key into the door. Crimson held the door open for the three as they made their way inside. Rarity looked around the small living area and gave a weak smile.

“Very....interesting.” She said with a gulp.

“I’m a man with simple tastes.” He said with a shrug.

“There’s simple and then there’s no taste.” Rarity said in a hushed tone.

“I heard that.” The fashionista threw on a weak smile and gulped. The red haired man then started to make his way towards the door.

“Where are ya going?” Applejack asked.

“I need to check on the wards.” He said with a shrug. The girls looked at one another and followed the man out of his barely furnished home.

“So Crimson, how long will you be staying in Ponyville?” Twilight asked.

“The mission statement said three months. Although that may change.” He said as the librarian matched his pace.

“Why would it change?” Applejack asked.

“I might get reassigned on some other mission or if time runs out and I need to face the trials.” The girls all looked at one another in confusion.

“Trials?”

“You see. There are four ranks within the Academy. The beginners are called Scavengers, then Hunters. The next is Rangers, which is what I am. Finally there are Zealots.” He said in an explanatory tone. “Within each rank there are levels of jobs you can take. The jobs are rated E through A. E being the lowest and A being the highest.”

“So how do these jobs get ranked?” Rarity asked.

“They’re ranked on pay, difficulty and location.”

“Location?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, we don’t get jobs just from Equestria. We are sometimes we’re put on loan to other kingdoms.” The girls all looked at him in surprise. “A colleague of mine is away in Gryphonia right now.”

“What about difficulty?” Applejack asked as they passed Sugar Cube Corner.

“Well, it depends on what the job is.” He said as he withdrew his pocket watch. He pressed the button and a small rectangular board with a short description appeared under it. At the top it had the title ‘Ranger’ and the letter ‘B’ next to it. Crimson groaned and face palmed. “That ass hole. He set me up.”

“Pardon?” Rarity said.

“Sorry for the language.” He said as he gave them an apologetic nod. “Looks like my boss altered the job description.” Crimson as he pointed to the top. “He told me that this was Zealot class. Looks like he just pulled another one over on me.” He said with a groan.

“Why would he do that?”

“He likes to pull pranks on everyone once in a while. This is the butt end of the joke.” He said as he closed the watch.

“Why does it matter?” Rarity asked.

“The higher level the job the bigger the pay and the faster you rank up.” He said with a shrug. “After you complete a number of missions at a select difficulty then you’re able to take the trials.”

“So these trials are like tests?” Twilight asked.

“Exactly. They’re a series of tests that goes over what you’ve accomplished over your years of training at the Academy.” The group of was then approached by a familiar rainbow haired flyer.

“Sup guys. What are you guys doing?” She asked with a smile.

“Crimson was just telling us about the Academy Ranking system.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Sounds boring.” She said with a sigh. The man then felt something vibrate in his pocket. He pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open. A small map of the town showed up with a blinking dot in the far corner. “What’s that?”

“Something tripped one of the wards that I set up.” He said as he focused on the area. “Looks like something came from the Everfree forest.” Crimson said as he took off towards the forest. The group of girls gave chase and followed the red haired man. The man focused his magic into his feet and took off with speed that made the winged flyer’s jaw drop in surprise.

The girls looked in shock as they saw a dark red blur take off ahead of them towards the dark forest. The girls caught up to him as they approached the small cottage. The man summoned his scythe and quietly made his way around the house. He looked behind him to see the the five girls looking at him. “What are you guys doing?”

“Helping.” Dash said.

“This is my mission. Stay back.” He said in a stern tone. As the girls stepped forward he snapped his fingers and a bright red wall appeared in front of the girls. Sealing them off from the man. “Sorry, but I can’t afford you all to mess this up.” Dash banged on the wall and yelled. “That wall is sound proof too.” He said as he stealthily made his way around the cottage.

As he peered around the corner he saw a large manticore laying in the middle of the yard. The door to the cottage opened and the man saw the animal caretaker from before. The pink haired girl had a platter with a syringe and a vial of liquid on it.

“Okay mister Manticore. Now I need you to hold still.” She said with a smile. The beast groaned and lifted a paw to the smiling woman. Fluttershy smiled and put the needle into the solution and filled the syringe.

The woman smiled and gently put the needle into the beast’s paw. The beast growled and the woman patted it’s mane and hummed softly. “Hush now, quiet now.” She said as the beast purred. Crimson watched in amazement as the woman finished the injection and wrapped the paw in a cast.

Seeing no danger, the man made his weapon vanish and approached the woman. The girl perked up and smiled at the man. “Oh, hello Crimson. What brings you here?”

“I got a notification from the ward I set up that a large animal had breached it.” He said as he looked at the manticore. “What is that thing doing here anyway?”

“Oh, well you see.” She started as she got to her feet. “Some of the forest animals come to me whenever they get hurt.” She said with a warm smile. “This manticore got into a fight with some other animal and it’s paw was broken.” She said in a timid tone. “I just gave it a pain killer and set it in a cast for it to heal.”

“And this thing won’t try to kill you?” He asked with a skeptic look on his face. The two were then interrupted by a loud banging noise. The two looked over to the side of the house to see the other four girls with cross looks on their faces.

“Hey!” Dash yelled.

“How did you guys get out?” Crimson asked as they ran up to him.

“I managed to crack your ward.” Twilight said in an icy tone.

“Really? No one’s ever been able to do that before.” He said in an impressed tone. Twilight fought off a small smile as she focused on the man.

“That’s beside the point.” Rarity said with a sigh. “Why did you put us in that thing in the first place?” Crimson crossed his arms and let out a sigh.

“Look, I had no idea what was going on here. For all I knew there could have been a hydra attack and you guys would have just gotten in my way.” He said in a stern tone. “It was for your own protection.”

“We can handle ourselves just fine!” The farmer yelled.

“Then why did you guys need the Academy’s help then?” A long silence fell between the group of girls. They looked at one another and gulped. “Look, I came here to protect this town from the animals that have been acting more aggressive.” He said with a groan. “I can only do that if you all listen to me and let me do my job.”

He then reached into his pocket and withdrew a yellow crystal as he turned towards the yellow winged girl. “Just so a false alarm like this doesn’t happen again.” He said as he handed it to the vet.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked as she looked at the crystal.

“If the ward gets tripped by some animal that is coming to see you, then just hit it twice and I’ll know that you’re taking care of it.” Fluttershy looked at the crystal and tapped it twice with her finger. The rock blinked at her touch. The girls then saw Crimson’s gauntlet blink yellow twice. The group of girls then crowded around the small crystal.

“Thank y-” As she looked up, Fluttershy noticed that the spot the man was once standing in was vacant.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The small red haired child sat in the cafeteria and watched as several other people were talking amongst one another. Crimson ventured out of the room and walked along the corridors in silence. He looked out the window and saw storm clouds staring to move in. The child then felt his body crash into something hard. Crimson fell down on his back and looked up to see a man with dark brown hair and matching brown wings staring down at him.

“Watch where you’re going!”

“S-sorry.” Crimson said as he stood up. “I don’t want any trouble and-” he was cut off as the man grabbed him by his shirt collar and lifted him off the ground.

“You must think you’re something special just cause one of the professors got you in eh?” He said in a rough tone. Crimson felt a small wave of fear creep over him.

“Hey put him down!” The two looked to the right to see see a girl with light green hair marching towards the two.

“Oh how cute. Your girlfriend has come to your rescue.” The man said with a snicker. Ivy frowned as the man threw the boy to the ground.

“Hey back off!” She yelled.

“Or what? You’re not even a scavenger.” The man then slapped her across the face. Ivy felt the force from the man’s palm. Crimson immediately got to his feet and slammed his fist into the man’s back. The group heard a loud crack come from the man’s back. The large winged man staggered forward and turned around slowly. Crimson gulped and tried to stand his ground.

“That was a bad move.” The winged man said before his fist glowed a faint yellow and collided with the small boy’s chest. Sending him back against the stone wall. A group of other students gasped as they saw the wall crack as the boy’s back collided with the stone.

Crimson slowly stood up and groaned as a small bit of blood trickled out of his mouth. Crimson’s vision started to blur as the large man focused his magic into his hands and continued to pound the boy into the wall. Several other students winced as the upperclassman continued to beat the child like a drum, forming new cracks in the wall. The large man then felt the green haired girl latch onto his back and try to choke him.

The man gaged for a moment as he felt the girls arm wrap around his neck. The large person then grabbed the girl’s arm and threw her into the side of the wall. The girl slumped to the ground and groaned in pain. The man cracked his knuckles as Crimson stepped between him and the girl.

“Back off.” Crimson winced in pain as the words left his lips. The man chuckled and pulled out a large club from his belt.

“Too late freak.” He said as he raised the club. Several people gasped as he did. For some reason Crimson felt a growing rage at the words. He stood completely still as the large weapon came racing towards him. The crowd’s jaws dropped as Crimson outstretched his hand and stopped the club from moving all together.

“What the-” Was all the man got out before Crimson crushed the weapon in his palm. The crowd then saw what looked like dark red shadows encircled his arms. Crimson then let loose a barrage of punches that made audible cracks come from the man. The winged man instantly backed away and lunged forward.

The red energy circled around Crimson’s legs and he vaulted over the man and kicked him in between his wings. The force from the leg sent the man through the stone wall. Crimson panted and walked over to Ivy who was staring at him is disbelief. He helped her to her feet as a large cloud of white smoke moved through the crowd and appeared before the two children.

The white vapor then took the form of a silver haired woman donning a white blouse and a purple knee length skirt. Her green eyes pierced through everyone as they gulped.

“What in the name of Celestia is going on here?” She said as she looked at the destroyed wall and the injured man. “Who is responsible for this?” She yelled as she looked at the stunned crowd. The group then pointed towards the red haired child who had the green winged girl’s arm over his neck.

The woman adjusted her black rimmed rectangular glasses as her eyes flashed white for a moment. Her eyes shrank and then frowned. “I see.” A white phoenix then landed on her shoulder. “Get the nurse and tell her that we have an injured student. The green haired girl then coughed up a small amount of blood. “Make that two.” She said as she started to walk away. “Are you two coming?” Crimson gulped and helped the hobbled girl down the hallway. The crowd broke apart and created a pathway as two women in white coats arrived with a stretcher.

As the pair arrived at the medical center Crimson sat still as the medics scanned him with several spells. Ivy had several bandages going across her abdomen. The door burst open to reveal Crow with a worried look on his face.

“Are you alright Crimson?” He asked as he walked over to him.

“I’m fine.” He said in a flat tone. Ivy looked over and saw the blank look on the boy’s face. She then slowly go to her feet and walked over.

“Hey thanks.” She said with a smile.

“Forget it.” Crimson said as he got up.

“Honestly inside your first month and you start a fight?” Crow said as he shook his head.

“It wasn’t him!” Ivy piped up. Crow cocked an eyebrow at the girl.

“It was that other guy. He just attacked him when he accidentally bumped into him.” She said as she pointed at the red haired child. “The he used some big club on him.”

“Really now?” He said as the stretcher arrived. “Using weapons in an unofficial fight is strictly against Academy rules.”

“Buck rules!” The man yelled.

“Ah yes, Thunder Kicker.” Crow said as he adjusted his glasses. “Problem child if I ever saw one.” He said with a sigh. “Who are you miss?” He asked.

“Ivy Evergreen.” She said with a nod.

“Ah yes, you’re Fern’s daughter.” He said with a smile. “Well, thank you for helping Crimson out of a jam.” He said with a smile.

“Hey where’d he go?” The man then noticed that the seat that the child occupied was now empty. Crow looked at the empty spot and grinned as an idea came to him. Crimson laid on his bed in the high tower that overlooked the vast forest. He groaned as he turned over on his side and yawned. The door to his room opened to reveal the cane wielding man.

“What’s up?” Crimson asked as he sat up in his bed.

“Oh nothing. I’m just showing your new roommate to her room.”

“Her?” Crimson said as he cocked an eyebrow. Crow stepped aside to reveal the giddy green haired girl from earlier. “This is one of your jokes isn’t it?” He asked.

“No joke ma boy.” Crow said as the girl dropped two duffle bags on the opposite bed.

“Why do you torture me?” Crimson groaned as he laid back.

“Oh come now, you didn’t think that you’d get a view like this all to yourself did you?” Ivy said as she looked outside. “Awesome!” Crow took this opportunity to slowly sneak out of the room.

“Play nice kiddies.” He quickly said before closing the door. Crimson face palmed and looked over at Ivy who was smiling at him.