A Ranger's Retirement

At the start of my second year in equestria, I started to take in the world around me. The first year was all about culture shock and trying to adjust to my new body. I still had my old skills, I was still a beast master and ranger, it’s just now I was a child. I worked out regularly to keep fit and even volunteered at Sweet Apple Acres. I took in my new friends’ appearance this year, starting with Fluttershy. I noticed that Fluttershy was a little over five feet tall, which was surprising for pegasi, had a broad wingspan that fit her larger frame, had a decent sized chest, not that I had time for romance, and a gentle face. Her eyes were light blue, her coat was butter yellow, her mane and tail were light pink and fell midway down her back and over one of her eyes when she was scared, and she usually wore sweaters and skirts that went down to her ankles.

The next of my friends I noticed was Applejack. She’d have done well as a warrior in a guild or as a paladin in my old world. She was strong, sturdy, and honest to a fault so definitely a paladin. Her mane and tail were honey blonde, her eyes were a deep emerald green, her fur was orange, and she had a few scars on her arms, and legs. Each of her scars had a tale of farm work behind it, which showed her life style. She usually wore checkered shirts that she tied up under her budding breasts, cut off jeans that were more like shorts than pants, and her father’s Stetson which she always had on top of her head when I saw her.

With that said let me tell you about my days learning about the world I was in. Between working at the farm and exploring the region I tended to avoid going to school, though I did do the mandatory classes in the morning, which Applejack’s brother Big Macintosh wouldn’t let me work so the mornings were when AJ and I were in school, the afternoons we were working the field or I was exploring the area. Big Macintosh was as big as his name implied. He was six and a half feet tall, had sap green eyes, a straw colored mane and tail, and a bright amaranth coat. Big Macintosh taught me a bit about the mathematics of the world, saying that he understood them because of physics. I learned as much as I could about physics from him and asked why he wasn’t at a university. His reply was “I don’t need no university learning, I just need to watch the farm. My theories are good enough for me.”

In school I learned about the different groups throughout the world, the kitsune of neighpon, the griffons of Griffonia, the cats of Carriou, the wolves of the canine isles, the dragons, and the diamond dogs of the deep mines. I found myself fascinated with the fact that piece reigned despite the diversity, of course there were trouble makers like the caribou of the deep north, the creatures of Tartarus, and others who had yet to be named but were out there, or so the conspiracy nuts believed. Besides that I also learned of the monarchy and the different parts of Equestria such as the major cities. These were Canterlot, Manehattan, Appleoosa, Cloudsdale, and Los Pegasus.

I learned a lot more than that but this isn’t the time to tell you everything I learned. I found out we’d stop going to school when we reached fifteen and that we’d be able to choose our careers at that point. I didn’t have my cutie mark, though most of the class had there’s even Rarity, a filly that’d only moved to town recently and opened up a boutique with the help of her parents, had hers. It didn’t bother me though because I’d gone all my previous life and I knew that my calling was to be a ranger of Mielikki. Hell I didn’t know what my cutie mark would be, would it be the head of a unicorn, a ranger’s gear, or something else? I didn’t know and tended not to worry about it.

When I found out Rarity was a seamstress I started going to her for clothes orders since it was simpler than going to Canterlot, though I had to buy surplus military clothes and have her alter it. Before I go any further I feel I should describe Ponyville’s resident seamstress. She was four feet eleven inches tall, going on five feet, had a royal purple mane and tail, cerulean eyes, and wore elegant clothing. Her clothing changed regularly but it was usually skirts or dresses. She usually tutored me in the more modern sciences because I had a habit of trying to put medieval, as they called the time period, spins on things that clashed with modern magic theory, technology, and fashion. Rarity was very particular about fashion when she taught me, we could spend hours on it, so I avoided bringing it up.

After about half of my second year I knew the basics of equestria and was caught up to the rest of my class. As school drew to a close in the summer I worked more on the farm and less in the woods, though I had a habit of checking up on a family of manticore that were really just careful and had to put down the infringement of Timberwolves into their territory. I helped Fluttershy with the local animal populace, though it was hard for her to come out of her shell around me at first.

Luckily I’d had companions who were incredibly shy so I worked with her through it. She thanked me, though she was still unassertive and a bit of a doormat so Rainbow Dash and I had to constantly look out for her. Speaking of Rainbow Dash she was the one who didn’t attend school. She was also the shortest of the girls standing at a grand total of four and half feet tall with cyan fur, a rainbow mane and tail with a boyish cut, and magenta eyes that reflected her loyalty. She was touchy about her height but my response whenever she came to me complaining about someone calling her short was “You’re not short Dashie, you’re aerodynamic.”

Hanging out with Dash led to me meeting the town’s premier party planner, who was anxious about not throwing me a party when I first arrived in town and my avoiding her to make sure I never had a party. I sighed and relented after she gave me the filly eyes as many called them. Her name was Pinkamena Dianne Pie or Pinkie Pie for short. She was a five foot two inches tall bundle of energy. She had bright pink fur, a darker almost raspberry colored mane and tail, and was usually seen wearing a white shirt with two blue balloons and a yellow balloon on it like her cutie mark, and shorts or a skirt. I went to the party where I met most of the town that I didn’t know. There was the doctor, aka time turner, ditzy doo, and others that I didn’t keep track of other than Cheerilee who planned on being a school teacher after going to college for it.

Cheerilee was a raspberry mare with a light pink mane and tail, purple eyes, and usually wore a long skirt that reached her ankles and a blouse that had flowers in the shape of her cutie mark. I helped Cheerilee by letting her practice her teaching on me. We became good friends thanks to that, heh seems like most of the girls I became friends with is because we were working toward the same goal or they were tutoring me. Kind of funny, Mac was the only male I really hung out with besides the doctor who was already out of school, and stood five foot eight, had a brown coat, brown eyes, a black mane and tail, that could be mistaken for dark brown, and an hourglass cutie mark. The doctor was pretty awesome.

Anyway back to what I was saying, since school was out, and the farm didn’t need my help, I was currently hanging out with Rainbow Dash who I was teaching how to shoot. She asked me “So you’re saying pegasus magic should allow me to control the arrows to a degree?”

I nodded and said “Yeah, if it’s anything like how earth ponies react to nature, your magic should allow you to angle the wind around the arrow. You just have to focus and imagine your own wind pushing the arrow to the bullseye. Personally I prefer relying on skill but let’s say you’re in a situation where a rabid beast is attacking someone you love, instead of thinking you should use your innate magic to guide the arrow when you don’t have time to judge the shot. For now we’ll get you into the mindset of an archer. I, unlike you, already have the mindset of an archer, a dual wielder, and a ranger.”

Rainbow asked “What exactly is the mindset of a ranger?” I blinked, surprised that anyone let alone Rainbow would ask me what the mindset of a ranger is. I had to think about it, and decide what I would say. I closed my eyes lowering my bow and muttered to myself as I tried to categorize what a ranger’s mindset was. Eventually I had it.

I smiled and said “A ranger’s mindset is broken down into three things. These things are Protection of the innocent, Guardian of the wild, and Slayer of evil. Ranger’s rarely have to be guardians of the wild in equestria other than for areas like the Everfree, anyone can be a protector of the innocent, and Slayer of evil is a title that I hope you never have to gain. I hope you never are forced to kill.”

Rainbow gasped and asked “You’ve killed?” I nodded slowly and she said “Why?” I went on to explain every time I’ve ever had to kill. She blinked surprised and said “So you’ve never killed anyone who wasn’t a threat to life in general?” I shook my head in the negative and she said “Alrigh then, I guess we can get back to training.” I nodded wondering why she took me at face value, then realized she had a measure of me that told her all she needed to know.

I guided her through the exercises my teacher had given me as a child and slowly she got into the mindset of an archer and started to learn patience. I chuckled and said “Trust me Dash, you’re learning. It takes years to master the bow. I have a lot of experience from a childhood in the wild. I had to rely on the bow to save myself from dying in the mouth of a monster. I can also teach you how to wield swords or daggers. The fact you can draw back my bow shows just how much strength you have. This bow is made for a powerful earth pony, and you’re drawing it back, it takes a lot of effort but you’re managing it.” She beamed at the praise and released my bow. I sighed and said “I have got to get you your own bow. How goes your hand to hand combat training?”

She sighed and said “I can do the steel wing style fine but the style you’re teaching me is hard to get down. I know you said it’s meant to be used by anyone, but it’s just not working out.” I smiled and motioned for her to take her stance. She slowly dropped into a fighting stance and I corrected her with light touches. She blushed at every correction as if angry with herself for forgetting what I taught her. Afterward I guided her through the movements that I’d once perfected through years of training. I’d only had two years in my current body but a lifetime of memories and two years of training every chance I got led me to regaining my old skills, to a point. I hadn’t had a chance to find any swords so I made do with wooden blades I carved myself, but I had plenty of chances to work with my bow so I was more than adequate with it.

I guided Rainbow through the forms and said “I can’t teach you sword forms without you having your own blades Dash. If you have to pay someone to carve them for you, but you need to get some practice blades so we can start working on your expertise in that department.” She sighed as I pulled out my own wooden blades and went through the forms I was talking about.

She studied me and said “You know the way you move those swords is a lot like how I move my wings when doing steel wing.” I nodded and went to sheathe the swords in the makeshift holster on my back then stretched and motioned for her to grapple with me. She grinned, always liking to try and beat me, and lunged at me. I sidestepped her and she said “Damn it.”

I smirked as she turned using her wings as a speed boost then tackled me and tried to put my arms behind my back. I shifted my weight preventing her from getting a good hold and she said “So, have you learned everything you wanted to about Equus? I mean I know you don’t remember anything from before Fluttershy found you, but by now you should have a good grasp on everything the school is teaching you, also did you know Fluttershy’s going back to finish flight school, then going on to be a vet?”

I nodded in response to her question and tried to get out of her grip before saying “I’ve mostly gotten down the world’s geography and what not. I just am not used to the more detailed sciences, I prefer woodcraft anyway.” I found myself pinned and felt Rainbow’s groin grind against my ass and said “Someone’s frisky.” She quickly let me go and I turned it around so that she was pinned and I had her arms behind her back and her wings spread. She swore and I said “All’s fair in a spar Dash. Remember that next time. Also why were you grinding against my ass?”

She blushed and said “I had an itch.” I shrugged figuring she wouldn’t lie even if she was embarrassed about it and stood up keeping her arms twisted behind her back. She asked “Why are you letting me up?”

I smirked and replied “So you can try to break my hold the way I taught you. I’ve only got a tight enough hold to prevent you from hitting me with your wings or getting free without effort.” She nodded and twisted around freeing one of her arms then punched me in the stomach. I coughed slightly but my abs protected me from most of the blow and she said “That’s for being a jerk.” She kissed my cheek and said “And that’s for teaching me. I gotta get back to work, I’ll see ya around.” I nodded and let her go then watched her fly off.
I turned and walked back to my house muttering “I think it’s time to head to Canterlot. I need to see the princess and plead my case. At worst she’ll laugh me off, at best she’ll believe me and offer me ways to learn how to work with my new body and help against the threat.”