//------------------------------// // Chapter VI: Scarlet and Cliff // Story: The Ranger's Journey // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter VI Scarlet and Cliff Ivy let out a yawn as she walked out of the cave with barely a scuff mark on her outfit. She looked out to see several towns people looking at her in shock. She put her arms over her head and smiled. “All clear folks.” She said with a grin.The town folk cheered and soon surrounded her. Ivy smiled weakly and felt a small shiver run down her spine. She immediately jumped back into the cave and kicked something with her right foot. The beast roared in anger as it felt the impact. The mob of people immediately stepped back as they saw a Hobbe the size of a small troll come out of the cave and step into the light. “Everyone stand back!” She yelled as she pulled out her two batons and twirled them in her hands. “Alright big guy. Let’s see what you got.” She said with a smirk. The large beast roared and threw a massive fist at the girl. Ivy smirked and easily dodged the massive fist. She then took the two batons in her hands and pointed both ends at the massive creature. The ends then glowed a bright green and a barrage of small green balls shot out the end. The tiny spheres exploded as they made contact with the beast. The large hobbe then staggered backwards and yelled in pain. Before the beast could recover, Ivy slammed the ends together and the newly formed staff started to split apart and turn into a whip. The girl roped the monster’s legs and gave a hard pull. The large Hobbe landed on it’s back and it’a head hit a rock. Stunning it. “Now for the coupe d grace.” Ivy then took the whip and changed it back into a staff form. She heard a satisfying locking noise and smiled. She then took flight and slammed the end on to the monster’s head. The girl heard a loud crack come from the monster’s skull. The beast staggered for a moment and fell forwards. The woman walked up to it and poked it’s nose with the tip of her staff before turning back to the frightened crowd. “Okay, now it’s all clear.” She said with a smile the group cheered and thanked the warrior with a smile on their faces. The large group made their way back towards the small town. Ivy leaned her head back and looked up at the sky. Wonder what Crimson is up to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crimson made his way through the quiet streets of Ponyville with a blank expression on his face. He was then approached by the boy that hung out with Twilight. Crimson had noticed several oddities about the child. Including his, long nails, sharp teeth and spliced green eyes. “Hey dude.” “Spike right?” Crimson said with a cocked eyebrow. “Yeah that’s me. So what are you doing?” “Just looking for something to do. I’m so bored.” He said with a groan. “I bet you’re not used to the quiet life yet eh?” “Correct.”He said with a sigh. “I’m a Ranger it’s my job to fight things.” “What have you fought anyway?” Spike asked. “Name it I’ve fought it.” He said in a humdrum tone. “Even....zombies?” “Yup, two years ago while I was guarding a research team in some ruins.” He said with a shrug. Spike’s jaw dropped as he looked at the man. “Everyone got out alright.” Spike twiddled his thumbs and looked up at the man. “Can you keep a secret?” Crimson looked at the small dragon in confusion. “Sure, I guess.” Spike motioned him to lean over so he could whisper. “I have a crush on Rarity.” He said ina hushed tone. “The seamstress?” “Shhh!” “Sorry, but why tell me?” “I figured that since you’ve been around a lot, that you might have some advice for me.” He said with a guilty grin. Crimson thought for a moment and scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry Spike, but you’re asking the wrong guy about that kind of stuff.” The dragon cocked his head in surprise. “I’m about as clueless as you when it comes to girls.” “Seriously?” Crimson rolled his eyes and nodded. “I’m usually too busy working to focus on things like that.” He said in a flat tone. “Sorry.” “It’s fine.” He said with a shrug. “Mind if I ask something?” Crimson said as he looked at the child. “Sure.” “What’s up with your nails and eyes.” Spike then looked at his claw like nails. “I’m half dragon.” He said ina flat tone. “What?” “Long story short Twilight went nuts with one of her spells and it turned me into a human.” He said with a shrug. “Anyway to change you back?” “Nope, it's permanent."Spike shrugged. "It’s fine though. I’m pretty sure I’d freak everyone out if I was a full dragon.” He said with a small chuckle. “So can you breathe fire?” “Yeah, but only a little bit.” “How’d you get stuck with Twilight anyway?” “She had to pass some test and hatching my egg was the test.” “Hatched?” He said as he cocked an eyebrow. “Her magic went nuts and my egg absorbed the magic thereby causing me to hatch.” He said in an explanatory tone. “Twilight took me in and the rest is history.” “Interesting.” Crimson said with a nod. “I’d better get back to the library. See ya around.” He said as he ran off towards the center of town. Once the man was alone with his thoughts he ventured towards the park. He sat down at a lone picnic table and summoned his scythe. Crimson sat down and started to look over the blade and hand grips. The warrior then saw Twilight making her way towards him. She was donning a neat purple blouse and a pair of tan pants that went down to her ankles. “Morning.” He said with a nod. “Same to you.” She said as she sat down across from him. The librarian then noticed the scythe laying on the table. “Um, what are you doing?” “I need to clean Scarlet.” “Who?” He then nodded towards his weapon. “You named your weapon?” The man gave her a stiff nod. “Why?” “It’s bad luck not to name your own creation.” He said as he withdrew a cloth and cleaned the blade. “Wait, you made this?” She said in confusion. “Well, sort of.” He said as he rubbed his head. “I’ve modified her over the years so she’s more versatile, but at the core she’s still the same the first day she found me.” “She found you?” Twilight said as she cocked an eyebrow. “My dad always told me that, ‘the warrior doesn’t pick the weapon, the weapon picks the warrior.’” “So you’ve had that thing for a long time?” He then twisted the staff part of the scythe. “Yeah, our first test is to go out and claim a weapon that we’ll use for the rest of our time at the Academy. Each member has to have a weapon that can be powerful and versatile.” He pulled the end out to reveal a long sharp sword. The blade was jet black and had a menacing sharp edge. “I usually keep her in reaper form though.” “Reaper form?” “The scythe.” He said as he held up the weapon. “The sword I use when I get serious.” He said in a flat tone. “What do you mean?” “The scythe itself is powerful, but it’s a bit slow. If I need speed then I switch to sword form.” He said as he looked at the blade. “What about long range?” Twilight asked now clearly interested. “I either use my gauntlet or I switch her to gun form.” He said as he put the sword back in the scythe part. He then turned the handle counter clockwise twice and a scope popped up on the handle. Twilight looked at the end near the blade to see an opening. Crimson picked the weapon up and pointed it at a nearby tree. His hands glowed for a second before the end glowed and unleashed a salvo of magic. The tree took the hit and a bright red flash filled the scholar’s vision. When she opened her eyes she saw that there was a large holed going straight through the large tree. Her jaw dropped and walked over to inspect it. The hole was precise and felt that it had been burned over. “That tree is toast!” She said in astonishment. “I could have made it gone through the rock too if I wanted too.” He said with a shrug. “I usually stick to close range combat if I can help it.” Twilight then eyed the odd weapon. “How heavy is that thing?” “All together? I’d say about eighty pounds.” He said as he held it with one hand and offered it to the girl. Twilight put both hands on it. As she got a grip Crimson let go and the librarian felt the weight and fell forward as she let go of the ranger’s weapon. The scythe’s blade stuck in the ground and stayed in place. Crimson lunged forward and caught the scholar as she fell. Twilight looked up to see his dark red eyes glaring down at her. Twilight felt a bright blush creep across her face as he stood her up. “You okay?” “Y-yeah, I just wasn’t expecting it to be that heavy.” She said with a gulp. “I could make her lighter, but I like her this way.” “I still don’t see why you call it ‘her.’” Twilight said with a shrug. “A weapon isn’t just a tool it’s an extension of yourself. It reflects your personality and the very essence of who you are.” He said as he holstered the weapon onto his back. “Without her then I’d be dead more times that I can count.” Twilight processed the info and let out a sigh. “I see. Sorry if I caused offense.” “It’s fine. I can see why you don’t understand, since you don’t have one of your own.” The two were then interrupted by a familiar cyan winged flyer. She landed next to the two and smiled. “Hey guys.” “Morning Rainbow.” Twilight said as Crimson nodded. “What are you guys doing out here?” “Crimson was just telling me about his weapon.” Twilight clarified. Dash then threw on a devilish grin. “Sure, that’s totally what you were talking about.” She said in a lewd tone. The two mages looked at one another in confusion before putting the pieces together. Twilight’s face turned bright red and frowned at the flyer. “Real mature Dash!” She yelled. “Oh calm down Twi.” She said with a shrug. “My god, you and Ivy would get along like a house on fire.” Crimson said as he face palmed. “Who’s Ivy?” “She’s one of my partners.” He said with a shrug. “Partners?” Twilight said in a nervous tone. “Every Academy member gets assigned missions remember?” He said as he started to walk with the two girls. “You see, starting out as Scavengers everyone is required to be in a four person squad.” The girls nodded. “When they reach the rank of Ranger, they then have the option of taking jobs on their own. Like I’m doing now.” “So, this Ivy person is on your team?” Dash asked. “Yup, she’s also my roommate.” “So she’s the one who’s taking care of Cliff?” Twilight asked. “Well, right now she’s clearing out a hobbe cave somewhere.” He said with a shrug. “So where are the other two?” Dash asked. “Long story.” He said with a shrug. The trio then started to walk out of the park and back onto the street. “So Crimson, where did you get that thing?” Dash asked as she looked at the scythe. “I made it.” “No way!” “Yup, you see when you start out in the Academy your first assignment is to get a weapon.” He said in an explanatory tone. “So how did you get yours then?” Dash asked. “You see-” Crimson then felt his watch vibrate. He pulled it out and flipped open the lid to see another animal had tripped the ward. “Dash, fly up and see if you can see what’s-” He was cut off as he heard several screams. The trio then took off towards the edge of town. The three stopped as they reached the apple farm. Applejack, Applebloom, a tall man with shoulder length rust colored hair who was carrying an elderly woman in his arms. Crimson ran up to them and nodded. The man then heard a gut churning roar. The group looked up to see an Ursa Minor towering over them. “Applejack is this everyone?” “Y-yeah.” “Good, tell the towns folk to take cover.” He said as he pulled his scythe out from it’s holster. “You’re not gonna fight that thing are you?” Twilight asked. “That’s the plan.” He said as he cracked his neck. “Get going now!” He ordered. Applejack nodded and led her family to safety. Dash and Twilight went off to go warn the town. Crimson let out a sigh and focused on the massive beast in front of him. Crimson lunged forward and swung his scythe. The blade glowed a deep red and several energy slash marks hit the beast. The Ursa roared in anger and set it’s sights on the small red warrior that stood before it. Crimson then saw that the beast swung one of it’s massive paws at the him. The man quickly dodged the attack and fired a few salvo’s from his gauntlet. The blasts hit the beast in the face and the warrior saw that it barely left a scratch. Crimson relaxed and cracked his neck. No choice then. He thought as he let out a sigh and placed his left hand over his face. He didn’t see that the six girls had come back with whatever they could use as a weapon. Twilight’s eyes blinked a light purple color and saw that his dark red aura immediately sky rocketed. Crimson’s eyes had also changed. The whites surrounding the red pupils was now pitch black and the pupils themselves were spliced. Crimson pulled out his scythe and stuck it in the ground. He looked back to see the group standing there with nervous looks on their faces. His hands started to glow and he picked up his weapon. He slammed the blade into the ground and funneled his magic to the blade. Crimson immediately made large slash mark in the ground and sheathed his blade. He put two fingers to his mouth and let out a high pitched whistle. The girls saw the massive slash mark glow bright red and a massive spell circle appear on the ground above the crack. The girls felt the ground shake and saw a bright flash of light. Smoke filled the air. The group opened their eyes and let out a gasp. Standing in front of them was a massive dark red, three headed dog. The beast easily matched the size of the Ursa Minor. On the middle head stood the red haired warrior. His dark red eyes focused on the large bear. The large bear gulped in surprise as it stared into three sets of eyes that had rage in them. “Sick em.” Crimson ordered. The large dog roared and charged at the beast. The Ursa swung it’s massive paw at the dog. It’s target evaded the attack and found an opening. The three dog heads then bit into the bear’s hide. The large dog growled and jumped off the heavily bleeding beast. Crimson jumped off the center dog’s head and landed on the large bear’s chest. The heavily bleeding monster looked at the small red dot in confusion. Crimson frowned and bore holes through the monster. “Leave. Now!” Crimson yelled as the Ursa gulped. “If you think about coming back, then remember that my pet is always hungry.” The man said with a wicked grin as he motioned to the large three headed dog. The bear gave a slow and fear filled nod at the man. “Good boy.” He said as he hoped back onto the large dog’s head. “C’mon boy.” Crimson said as he pointed towards the town. He watched as the Ursa got to it’s paws and slowly limped back towards the Everfree forest. The large dog stopped on the edge of town and looked down at the group of frightened girls. Crimson hoped off his pet’s head and landed with a smile on his face.”What?” “That’s all you can say?” Twilight yelled. “You summoned a Cerberus!” She said as she looked at the massive dog. “Yeah, remember that pet I told you about?” He said as he scratched his head. The group’s jaws dropped. “That thing is Cliff?” Dash yelled. “Yup.” “He’s not gonna try to eat us is he?” Applejack asked. “You honestly think that you’re enough to fill that huge stomach of his?” He asked with a snicker. “Not helping.” The farmer said with a scowl. “Sorry and no. He’s well trained and won’t attack unless I order him to or is provoked.” He said with a smile. Fluttershy slowly flew up to the large dog’s head and started to scratch between the middle head’s ears. The beast let out a sound of approval and it’s tail started to wag. “Oh he’s just the sweetest thing.” She cooed. “He’s a monster!” Twilight yelled. The three heads then lowered to her height and growled. Twilight’s hairs stood on end and gulped. “Yeah, he’s really sensitive.” Crimson said as he looked at the frightened scholar. “Best not to get him pissed.” He said in a flat tone. Crimson snapped his fingers and the large beast vanished in a puff of smoke. “Where did he go?” Fluttershy asked. “I sent him back to the Academy.” He said as he sat on the ground panting. “It takes a lot of magic to summon and keep him here.” He said with a groan. “Takes a lot out of you.” “You okay?” Dash asked. “Yeah, I just need to rest.” He said with a pant. The man got to his feet and staggered forward only to be caught by the strong man. “Least ah can do for saving mah family and farm.” The man said with a grin. “Thanks, who are you?” “This here’s my brother Macintosh.” Applejack said with a smile. “Ah, should’ve guessed.” He said as Mac helped him stand up straight. “I’ll see you guys later.” He said as he started to walk away from the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ivy Evergreen laid on her hotel bed and relaxed after a long day of Hobbe killing and yawned. The girl then felt something in her pocket glow and vibrate. She pulled out a small green gem and focused her magic into it. A small image of Crow appeared. “Hello Ivy, how goes the mission?” “Done, just relaxing.” She said with a smile. “Need something?” “I’m redirecting you to Crimson’s location.” “Why?” “I just got a report that he summoned Cliff to deal with an Ursa Minor.” He said in a flat tone. Ivy looked at him in confusion. “He’s losing it Ivy. I need you there to keep him calm especially with ‘it’ around the corner.” “I understand. I’ll leave first thing tomorrow. Should I call Cobalt and Rouge?” “I’ve sent them a message, but it’ll take a while before they are back.” “No problem.” She said with a smile. “I’ll keep him under control.” “Thank you and good luck.” He said before the image vanished.