Counselor In The Forest

by RedBlack

Barely A Week

"Haven't you been doing this for like, a week at best? How'd you get it so good?" Moon asked as she ate pieces of her meal from a plate.

"Just practice I suppose." Remedy answered with a slight chuckle.

"No, really, this is good. It has so many flavors!" Pinkie exclaimed as she finished her portion in a single gulp.

Sounds of agreement came from the camp as Remedy had a simple smile on his face.

"Well, if you want more. There's still some left." He offered to Pinkie, who gave him her bowl.

Pinkie was somehow on the underside of the platform, hanging on with only the tip of her tail. Twilight was enjoying the how bowl of soup, half forced by her friends to put her notebook down. Applejack was arguing with Rarity over what kinds of clothes one should wear in the countryside. Rainbow was taking a nap after wasting most of her energy circling the river about six times before returning to camp.

Fluttershy, now having her entire mane braided to the side with a few daisies pricked into it, was peacefully enjoying the calm atmosphere of the camp. Moon, to the utter astonishment of Fluttershy's friends, had laid down next to her without causing any kind of issues.

"Well, we best be headin' back 'bout now. Don't want the others to worry." Applejack spoke up.

"Oh yeah. We have been gone for longer than usual." Twilight commented.

"Yes, it's close to feeding time." Fluttershy agreed.

"Aw." Moon let out a disappointed sound as she let go of Fluttershy.

"I'll come visit again." Fluttershy told her.

"Okay"

"Yeah, still weird." Rainbow commented with a small yawn.

"I do like the new mane style though. Très élégant." Rarity added in.

"Well, we'll see you two later then." Twilight said to Remedy, who calmly nodded with a smile.

"We'll be waiting, and, travel safe." Remedy replied and pointed to where they came from.

"Thanks." Twilight said and she lead the rest of them out of here.

Moon and Remedy sat patiently, waiting for the girls to slowly disappear out of vision. Exactly ten minutes later, when they were both sure that they were gone, Moon spoke up.

"So, what the fuck was that?"

"What do you mean?" Remedy replied casually.

"The tree throwing? Or how about, ripping open a hydra's throat. I know you weren't that strong before." Moon explained with a slight frown.

"Well, I hate to disappoint, but the only answer I've got is that, I felt like I could do it, so I did it. Nothing else." He moved to sit next to the fire.

"Seriously? No, hidden magic technique, or, some kind of bullshit at the same level?" Moon asked incredulously.

"Nope. As far as I can tell, this is new." He drank lukewarm tea.

Moon stood silent for a few seconds. "And you're not worried about it?"

"Not really. Not right now at least." Remedy replied as he held back a yawn.

"Oh, you're actually tired." She said as Remedy went to grab his pillow.

"Oh." Remedy let out a sound as his hoof froze mid air.

"Oh yeah. She looked tired, so I told her to take a nap in the bag." Moon commented.

"Well, she'll definitely need the rest after the concussion." Remedy spoke and took his hoof away from the sleeping griffin. "Guess I'll hit the hay for today." Remedy said with a yawn as he climbed up to the platform. "You gonna join?"

"Eh, sure. I could use a nap." Moon accepted and climbed the stairs after him.

With a big stretch, Remedy laid down on the ground with his hooves under his head. Moon followed suit as she laid down next to him, looking up.

"So, any idea what those fruits are?" Moon struck a conversation.

"None." Remedy replied stoically.

"That," *Yawn*, "is probably a sing that we know too little."

"Probably." His tone remained stoic.

"Well, damn then." Moon ended the talk, noticing that Remedy wasn't in the mood.

Moon stretched slightly whilst laying down, earning a few cracks from her back. She laid still, and closed her eyes. Only to open them back up again as she stared at the orange sky, evidence of sunset. Despite letting out a few yawns, she couldn't seem to quiet be able to sleep.

"You're tired, go to sleep." Remedy suddenly commented, startling her a bit.

"I can't." She replied.

"I see. Try anyway." He spoke in a soft voice.

"I am." Moon gained a slight frown on her face.

A few seconds of silence went on as Moon became slightly agitated. Remedy stayed silent, a pure blank face with his eyes closed.

Just as Moon was about to speak up, Remedy asked a question.

"You seem to like that Fluttershy one. Any reason why?"

"The fuck? What's that have to do with anything?" Moon said incredulously.

"Well, nothing." Remedy replied as his eyes opened the tiniest bit. "So?" He insisted.

Moon stared at Remedy, disbelief evident on her face before she shakes it away.

"Well, I don't fucking know. I just thought she was cute, and she was the only one who was nice to me." She replied with an annoyed face.

"I see." He replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Moon suddenly asked back.

Remedy's eyes flicked towards her as he took note of her sudden aggression.

"Do you know what a hug is supposed to be?" He suddenly changed the topic, befuddling Moon.

"What?" Moon asked, fully confused by the question.

"A hug. Do you know what it means?"

"Yeah? I mean, you hugged me during that rainstorm. I still remember that." Moon replied, losing all aggression without realizing it.

"Do you want one?" Remedy asked casually.

"What? Why would I-? No." In the end, she declined.

"Are you sure? You seemed like you needed it." He insisted.

Another small period of silence passed as Moon had a confused look on her face. She kept opening her mouth to decline, but she found herself closing it back without letting out a peep.

Remedy simply pulled her in and held her head to his chest. Moon tried to refute, but she only sighed silently before relenting and closing her eyes. They gently passed the next few seconds as the leaves of the trees blocked the sunlight and the gentle breeze cooled their bodies.

"I need to use it." Moon suddenly spoke up.

Remedy burst into laughter as he let go of Moon, who quickly ran down the stairs with a red face.

"Bring the tea when you come back!" Remedy yelled after her while trying to hold back his laughter.

---

"Oky, so, connect these." Remedy calmly guided Moon, who held a hammer and a wooden construction in her hooves.

"Got it." She replied and hammered in a nail.

"Then you'll connect it together with the other one."

"Mhmm." She replied and pulled a wooden pillar to her. "Where's the, triangle thingies?" She asked.

"Here." Remedy replied and gave her a support structure.

Moon silently aligned the things together, and with Remedy's guidance, she was successfully building a pillar.

"Hey, Remedy?" She called out.

"Yeah?" He called back nonchalantly.

"How did you know?"

"How'd I know what?"

"I don't know. Everything, I guess? You always somehow know something is wrong."

Remedy's hooves stopped mid air as a nail threatened to fall down.

"Experience. Lots of it."

"But, how is what I'm asking you. Anytime somepony has a problem, you just, seem to know."

There was a small period of silence. The quiet winds dominated the area as Moon held a small grimace on her face. With a silent sigh, she turned to look at Remedy, who held a blank look on his face. His gaze was still as an indescribable emotion flashed through them.

"Are you-"

"As I said. It's just experience." Remedy interrupted her with a cold voice as the area suddenly felt colder.

Moon opened her mouth to say something, yet no voice came out. In the end, she only nodded and returned to her work.

*Rustle*

"Hello." A sudden voice surprised the two.

"What the-? Oh. It's you." Moon grew a slight frown on her face as she ignored the visitor.

"Twilight. Great to see you again." Remedy's blank face disappeared as a small smile overtook it.

Moon glared at Remedy for a few seconds, but ultimately let it go.

"Yes, you too." Twilight said back in a slightly tired tone as she sat down in front of the extinguished campfire. "Actually, I came here to ask your opinion on something." She said with clear exhaustion on her face.

"Shoot." Remedy spoke as he stood up and tapped Moon on the shoulder.

"You deal with it." Moon replied with annoyance.

Remedy looked for a moment before sighing lightly and sat opposite of Twilight. Twilight herself had a troubled look on her face she stared at Moon before eventually sighing. She knows she's pretty much never going to be able to build that bridge with her.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" Remedy asked.

Twilight was a bit conflicted about just leaving the matter there, but decided to move on since there was nothing she could do about it.

"It's, well. I just needed to hide for a bit." She started off slow.

"From what?" Remedy asked with curiosity.

"From, how do I explain it. My friends want me to do something, but I really don't want to." She explained with a sheepish look. "It's, selfish, but doing it would just be me bragging about it."

Remedy took a moment to register her words as he thought of the situation. Seconds pass with nothing but silence between the two as Moon takes a break from building structures.

"What do you don't want to do?"

"I don't want to brag." Twilight answered hesitantly.

"Brag?" Remedy asked, a bit befuddled.

"I know, it sounds weird when I say it out loud." Twilight was slightly flushed while explaining.

Moon rolled her eyes with clear annoyance before deciding it was time for a wash. Though, the other two were left confused since she said nothing and left.

Remedy sighed with a quick shake of his head to clear his mind.

"So. You need to do something, but that means you'd be bragging, which you don't want to do." He resumed as he started to boil some water.

"Yes. Well, I don't need to do it. But I should."

"How badly?" He asked and brought out a chopping board.

Twilight took a moment to think of the answer. "I need to defend my friends' pride?" She stated it almost like a question.

"Huh." Remedy let out a sound as he pondered the answer. "Exactly what is it that you need to do?"

"It's really stupid. I need to show-off my magic." She answered with a flat face.

"Magic? So you met an, entertainer?" Remedy suddenly asked as he started chopping some leaves.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Twilight gave a smile at the answer.

"You said pride and magic. So, I got a guess." He spoke in a nonchalant voice. "Then the issue is simple. They probably gave a show, challenged a few hecklers and ended up humiliating them. That's their job." He explained calmly.

"So I shouldn't do anything?"

"Pretty much." He answered and poured the chopped leaves into the water. "How was the performance?"

"Not that bad actually. Sure, the magic was a bit elementary, but she was really good at controlling them." Twilight answered as her eyes took an analysing look.

"Sounds fun. She say anything about defeating some grand foe? Like a, I don't know, giant snake? Or, one of the constellations?" He asked with a small smirk.

"Uh. She said she vanquished an Ursa Major." Twilight answered lightly.

Remedy gave a small chuckle. "Either she did it this morning, or she's lying. Since I saw the Ursa Major in the sky last night." He stirred the pot lightly before adding a small amount of salt.

"Wait. So, destroying a, constellation, makes it disappear in the sky?" She asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Uh. Yeah." His answer got slightly cold before he shook his head to clear it.

"Wow. And, what is the Ursa Major?" She asked with interest.

"It's a, I think it was a bear. I didn't pay too much attention in astrology." He gave an answer as he poured in steaming tea to a cup.

"Thank you." Twilight said as she received a cup.

With a small hum of joy, they enjoyed a silent period of tea. Letting out a content sigh, Twilight relaxed as she held a satisfied grin on her face.

"So, that take away your stress?" Remedy asked with a joking tone.

"Yes it did." She answered happily. "I want to know more about these constellations. I'm pretty sure Ursa Major isn't in the modern classification system of constellations." She explained happily before running off.

"What? Wait!" Remedy tried to yell after her, but the frenzied mare was already gone.

Silence enveloped the camp as Remedy stood there with a thoughtful expression.

"Wait a fucking minute." He angrily muttered to himself as a small grimace overtook his face.

"What're you yelling about?" He slightly jumped as he heard a sudden voice speak from behind him. "Woah. I never thought I'd actually sneak up on you." Moon spoke with a surprised voice.

"That doesn't matter." Remedy spoke seriously.

Moon's face turned serious in turn as she waited for his words.

"When did they change the star system?" Remedy asked without a hint of change in his expression.

Moon thought for a few seconds, before ultimately coming to an answer.

"I don't fucking know. Somewhere in the thousand years?" She replied with a questioning tone. "Is this related to why I couldn't find Canis the other day?"

She, however, didn't receive an answer as Remedy's face turned blank. A perfect stone face as his eyes unfocused.

"Um, you good?" Moon asked with a hint of worry.

"WHAT THE FU-"

Author's Note:

Yo!

I'm alive and I've finished my SAT exam, which I'll be using as my score in my final exams. As for how I did, I'm just a little more dead inside.

Anyways, I think I've sprinkled some hints about Remedy's backstory. Take a guess at what is it if you want to. Winner gets a personal congratulations from me. Lol.

And as always, thanks for reading.

Comments

[Greenhorn]

Hold up! Did you say the constellations became a living being during Luna's banishment? How is that possible?

[RedBlack]

11900522
Not really. Otherwise Remedy wouldn't know about them.