The Everfree Ranger

The pegasus' heart hammered in her chest. She ran as fast as she could, pumping her legs with all her might. Fat, cold raindrops splattered against her cheeks, mingling with her tears. She had long since gone numb from the cold, but she didn't care. She only knew she had to get as far away from that horrible place as she could. Dark trees loomed all around her, seeming to stare at her with wicked eyes. Their long, thorny arms scratched her as she ran by, leaving painful reminders of why no pony ever came out here.

Blinking away the moisture from her eyes, she turned around to check behind her for pursuers. As her head swiveled, her hoof caught on a root, tripping her. She went sprawling onto the muddy ground. She lay there for a moment, panting with exhaustion. Standing up, she shook the moisture from her coat like a dog, sending droplets everywhere. Shivering, she crouched down and looked around in fear. If she didn't find shelter soon, she wouldn't last much longer.

Through the trees, a little ways away, she made out a faint glow. She couldn't tell it's source, but it didn't matter. She knew that she had to get to it. Struggling to her feet, she painfully limped her way over.

As she got closer, she saw that the light wasn't much. Just a small pile of faintly burning embers in a ring of stones. In a few more minutes the embers would be soaked by the rain. Moving closer, she picked up one of the rocks and cradled it to her chest. It still held faint traces of warmth, and that was enough for her. She lay on it, turning every few seconds to soak up the heat with as much of her body as possible.

As she was turning, she froze. A flash of lightning cut through the trees, illuminating the rest of the area where she stood. Just a foot away from the fire was a makeshift shelter, made by weaving grass and leaves into a net, hanging at an angle, suspended by two poles. Underneath the shelter was a figure, wrapped up in some sort of blanket. The figure under the blanket rolled over every few seconds, in fitful sleep. Next to him lay a massive longbow, with a full quiver of arrows.

"You know, it's often considered quite rude to stare."

The pegasus jumped. The figure spoke in a rough voice, touched with a Trottingham accent. He rolled over, pulling himself to his hooves. The pegasus cowered in fear, trembling.

There was a slight laugh. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Why don't you come out of the rain." Trying to contain her fear, the pegasus walked under the shelter's roof. Once inside, she got a better look at the pony. He was an earth pony, looking to be in about his late thirties. He had a dark, chestnut brown coat, and a wild, unkempt green mane. He looked at her for a second.

"What's your name, then?"

"My name's Scootaloo, sir."

He frowned. "And what's a little filly like you doing out in the Everfree Forest at this time of night, Scootaloo?" There was another flash of lightning. "Especially in this weather. Aren't your parents worried?"

She shook her head. "No, sir."

"I reckon they are. If I had any children, I wouldn't want them out and about in these conditions."

"I don't think my parents would either, sir, if they were still around."

The earth pony paused for a moment. "Oh." Another pause. "Well then. Here, you can stay here for tonight. Take this." He tossed her his blanket. When she picked it up, she realized it was a cloak. It was made from thick wool, and had been stained green. The design blended perfectly into the wooded background. It was extremely warm, Scootaloo thought as she pulled it over herself.

"Thank you, sir," she said, snuggling down into the cloak.

He smiled. "Not a problem at all. And no more of this sir business, either. I'm no knight, and I don't expect to be any time soon. Just call me Oak Leaf." He waited for a moment, before realizing the filly was already asleep. Smiling to himself, he gathered up several of the dryer leaves under the shelter. Pulling them over himself, he lay down. In the morning, he'd figure out just where this filly had come from, and how he was going to get her back there.

...

Scootaloo awoke to a delicious smell. Lifting her head up, she inhaled deeply, searching for the source of the smell. Turning around, she saw that Oak Leaf had already woken up, and was making breakfast. He had pulled a small pot out of a saddlebag hanging from a tree, and was roasting some food in it. Scootaloo could smell berries, mushrooms, and some other scents she couldn't place. Oak Leaf turned to face her.

"Rise and shine," he said. "You must have been tired. It's almost nine o'clock."

Scootaloo ignored him, instead walking over to look inside the pot. Inside was a buffet of foods, freshly harvested from the surrounding wilderness. Oak Leaf looked her over, then turned around and reached into his saddlebag. A second later he reemerged, holding a first aid kit.

"Let me take a look at those scratches," he said. "They don't look like much, but you don't want to risk getting them infected." Scootaloo held out her leg as he bandaged the wounds.

"There, good as new," he said with satisfaction. "Just take it easy for a few days, and you'll be fine." He walked over to the pot and looked in. "And it looks like breakfast is ready. Perfect timing. Eat up, it's gonna be a long day."

As Scootaloo ate, she could feel Oak Leaves eyes on her. She knew that he had questions, but she wasn't sure she wanted to give him answers. She'd only just met him, and even though he seemed nice so far, it could all be a trick. After all, he was in the Everfree forest. That didn't bode well.

"Why are you out here?" She asked, in an attempt to keep him from asking her questions. "Most ponies stay as far away from here as possible."

"I've been tracking a pack of timber wolves for the past two days now," he said grimly. "They've been coming a lot closer to the forest edge than they normally do in recent months. I planned on following them to their lair, then figuring out why. But when the rain hit last night, I didn't want to risk wandering too far away from the trail. So I decided to make shelter."

"But how will you track them now? Won't the rain have destroyed the tracks?"

He smiled. "There's more than one way to track a timber wolf. Look over there." He pointed to a tree trunk nearby. "Tell me what you see."

Scootaloo looked at the tree. At first, she couldn't see anything, but after a few seconds, she saw claw marks. "Something scratched it," she said. Oak Leaf nodded.

"Timber wolves mark their territory by scratching trees like this. We're right at the very edge. Their lair will be somewhere nearby." Scootaloo shivered at the marks. Each one was almost as long as she was.

"Whatever made those scratches is huge," she said in awe. "I don't think I would ever want to run into something like that."

"And with luck, you won't have to." Oak Leaf stood up. "I'm going to have to find a way to get you home. I don't want you getting too close to the wolves, but I can't let them go. It would take too long to walk you back to town, and I can't let you go off by yourself. It's too dangerous."

Scootaloo shifted her weight back and forth. On the one hand, she didn't want to meet any timber wolves if it could be avoided, but she also didn't want to go back to Ponyville.

"I won't get in the way, I promise," she said. "You can go track the wolves, and I'll just come along with you. After you find what you need, you can take me home."

The earth pony sat in deep concentration, weighing his options. Scootaloo waited with bated breath. Finally, he reached a decision.

"Alright, you can come," he said. Scootaloo almost leaped for joy. "But, you have to follow my rules exactly. Stay behind me at all times. Don't make any noise. If I say something, do it without hesitation. If anything looks too dangerous, I'm taking you back to Ponyville. Is that clear?" Scootaloo nodded with wide eyes. "Okay, then. Follow me."

He set off at a slow walk through the undergrowth. Scootaloo walked along after him, moving her legs quickly to keep up with his long strides. The pony seemed to notice almost invisible signs, pointing them out to her. At first, she didn't know how he did it, but soon she noticed patterns. In areas with thick plant life, he looked for areas with scratches and bent stems. On rock, he looked for depressions where loose stones could have been shifted. After what felt like a long time, Scootaloo found that she was able to find signs without his help.

As she pointed out where some reeds had been pushed over, he looked at her with surprise. "You've got quite an eye for tracking," he said. "Most ponies twice your age wouldn't have noticed that." Scootaloo beamed with the praise. As they walked along, he began talking to her more.

"So what do you do for fun?" He asked.

"Me and my friends are the Cutie Mark Crusaders," she said with pride, her chest swelling out. "We do all sorts of fun things to get our cutie marks." He looked at her.

"Seems like you've already got one of those," he said.

"Well, yeah," she said, looking away. "Just recently. We've been trying out new things, but it's really not the same anymore."

"Have you considered a job?"

Scootaloo scoffed. "I'm way too young for that. I'm not even out of school anymore."

"You might enjoy being a ranger."

Scootaloo frowned. "What's a ranger?"

Oak Leaf stared at her in disbelief. "What do they teach you kids in school these days?" He shook his head. "When Ponyville first formed, the Everfree forest was nowhere near this tame, if you can believe it. Some pony was needed to help protect the town. So a pony by the name of Spruce Needle started studying the creatures of the Everfree. He learned about their habits and their mannerisms. Eventually, he'd learned enough about the forest that he was able to keep away most of the creatures. Ever since then, Ponyville has always had a ranger to watch over it, and study the creatures."

Scootaloo thought about that for a moment. "Who's the current ranger?"

Oak Leaf grinned. "Isn't it obvious? I am."

"YOU?"

Oak Leaf laughed. "Yes indeed, and proud of it." His face became serious as he studied one of the signs. Frowning, he crouched down and motioned for Scootaloo to stop. She came up next to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"This trail," he muttered. "It's just turned around. We're heading right back towards-"

"Ponyville," gasped Scootaloo.

Without a word, Oak Leaf took off at a light jog. Scootaloo ran alongside him, frantically flapping her wings in an effort to keep up with his stride. "What are we going to do?" She asked between gasps.

"We'll warn the town, and if there's not time to get a defense-" Oak Leaf motioned back to his bow. Scootaloo gulped.

...

"HELP!"

The scream cut clear through the air. Scootaloo almost shouted in shock. She recognized the voice!

"SWEET-MMMF!" Her shout was cut off as Oak Leaf clapped a hoof over her mouth.

"Shh," he said. "Don't alert the timber wolves. We can take them by surprise." Coming up to a clearing, Scootaloo saw both of her fellow crusaders cornered by a trio of timber wolves.

The creatures looked like something from a nightmare. Their eyes glowed with unearthly yellow light, and green spit dripped down from their jaws. They stared at the two fillies like Pinkie Pie eyed cakes.

Oak Leaf pulled his bow out in his left hoof. Using his mouth, he strung it in one fluid motion. "Take this," he said, handing Scootaloo a long dagger. "If one of them comes up on you, use this. Target their eyes and their nose. Those are the only unprotected spots." Scootaloo gripped the knife tightly, her hoof turning white.

The ranger checked that she had it, then turned back to the three wolves. In the blink of an eye, he had loosed two arrows. The first arrow punched a wolf in the side, knocking it to the side. As it skidded, it's head swung into position just as the second arrow punched through it's eye.

The second wolf didn't notice, focusing on it's next meal. It lunged for the two fillies, who screamed and ducked down. The next arrow knocked it off course, and it's snapping jaws just missed Sweetie Bells head. The wolf lay on the ground for a second, whimpering, before it lay down it's head, it's eyes staring off blankly.

The third wolf was the largest. It turned to the source of the attacks, it's eyes narrowing on Oak Leaf. Howling, it charged him. He quickly whipped out another arrow, sending it streaking towards the wolf. The beast leaped out of the path with lightning quick reflexes, barely breaking stride. In just a second, it was flying toward Oak Leaf. Before the ranger could fire another arrow, the wolf was upon him. It's gnashing jaws reached for his face, trying to kill him, but he forced his bow into it's mouth, holding it back.

Scootaloo watched with wide eyes. Oak Leaf was struggling to free himself, but his strength was running out. The beast was too strong.

She didn't think about what she did next. She couldn't let the pony who had saved her last night be killed by this creature. She jumped onto it's back, holding on tightly as it thrashed about. Holding up her knife, she stabbed downwards at it's head, feeling it connect with something. The wolf cried out in pain. Scootaloo pulled the knife up again and stabbed down. This time, it punched straight through the eye, going straight to the brain. The wolf cried out as it fell, flinging her off. She slammed into a tree, and woozily got up.

The wolf lay on the ground a few feet away, the knife still in it's head. Oak Leaf lay on the ground, panting. He rolled over, and stared at her with surprise. Then his face transformed into a grin.

"Not bad," he said, panting. "Not too many ponies your age can boast to have defeated a timber wolf. You should be proud." Standing up, he fetched the knife. Scootaloo winced as he wiped the creatures goo off of it. Looking at it for a second, he walked over and helped her up. As soon as she was up, he handed the knife to her. As she tried to refuse, he pushed it into her hooves. "Keep it," he said. "It's a good souvenir."

"Scootaloo!"

Scootaloo looked over. Her friends were running over towards her. Their faces had smiles plastered over them. As soon as they reached her, they began suffocating her in hugs.

"We've been looking for you all day!" Cried out Apple Bloom. "After you went missing last night, we got really worried. So we called an emergency meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We've been spending all day trying to find you! Where have you been?" Right then, they noticed Oak Leaf. "Who's he?"

"Apple Bloom!"

Apple Bloom whipped around. Her older sister, Applejack, was racing toward them. She looked extremely worried, and the look deepened when she saw the dead wolves.

"Apple Jack, I can explain-"

"I don't care! I told you to stay away from the Everfree Forest!"

"But Scootaloo was-"

"I know you were worried about your friend, but the forest is too dangerous to be walking around in! And you, Scootaloo, what were you thinking? Ms. Good Berry was worried sick all night about you!"

Oak Leaf spoke up. "It was all under control, Applejack. I was already on my way over here." When Applejack saw him, she visibly relaxed.

"Well, it's good to know SOME pony responsible was here to help. Now, you girls say thank you to Mr. Oak Leaf, and then you're all coming home!"

With a depressed sigh, the three girls said thanks to Oak Leaf, and then Applejack began leading them home. As they walked off, Scootaloo looked back over her shoulder at Oak Leaf. He stood by the corpses, retrieving his arrows. He seemed to be stacking the corpses together, and clearing flammable materials away.

He was a strange pony, but he seemed quite nice. She thought more about what he had said. "You might like being a ranger." Even though what she had just done had been terrifying, she actually felt quite exhilarated. It might be something fun! But as they were walking back towards the farmhouse, she remembered why she had run away in the first place. Instantly, her happy thoughts vanished, replaced by dread.

Oak Leaf probably hadn't been serious when he mentioned being a ranger to her. It was just an illusion. She would never be a ranger. No pony would even let her.