//------------------------------// // Some New Faces // Story: Counselor In The Forest // by RedBlack //------------------------------// Well. Shit. I was on the defensive as I looked at the six ponies glaring at me. Sort of. I'm pretty sure they're terrified of me right now. Just hope they don't blast me with the fucking rainbow again. "What are you doing here!" That gay one asked loud. Okay, She's not scared at all. "Ask the asshole when he wakes up." I replied back with a blank expression. Their faces, except the pink one, took a small look of confusion. Then it quickly disappeared as, uh, what's her name again? She's the, one with the crown, the purple one. She stepped forwards as she stared at me with a glare. Which, honestly barely got a reaction out of me. She's too small to intimidate me. "Don't try to change the subject with a new word. Tell us how you're here!" She yelled out the demand. Apart from my head hurting like hell because of the concussion, I think that purple one hit me with a spell now that I think about it. I was extremely confused at the mention of a new word. "You mean 'asshole'?" I asked back. "Hey! She said no changing subjects, mister." The pink somehow closed he distance in a split second and glared at me before joining the others. How the fuck? I could've sworn she was right there. "First of all, I'm a Miss. Secondly, I don't know. But I'm pretty sure it's got something to do with the barrier." I just gave a simple answer. The one with the hat got a confused look as she whispered something to purple smart, who also looked like she couldn't understand something. "How do we know you're not lying?!" The gay one got in my face whilst flying as she pointed an accusatory hoof at me. "Can you not yell so loud? I still have a headache." I replied back with a slight frown. These ones are starting to get annoying. "Answer the question!" She yelled again and got even closer. I took a step back to regain my personal space. She, still in the air, followed my every step. "Do you wanna kiss or something!" I shouted out. Seriously. She's starting to creep me out with how much she disrespected my personal space. "Wha! Ew. No!" She spewed out as she flew a few steps back with a blush. "Ow." I gave a flat response at her actions. "Um. You should drink a lot of water, and have lots of rest after a concussion." That yellow pegasus, who I hadn't somehow noticed till now, spoke up. Very softly, I almost didn't catch it. "Thank you." I said and gave a smile. She seems pretty nice. She flinched and hid behind that marshmallow looking one before her head peeked out. "You're welcome." Why is she so terrified? Oh right, the teeth. "Fluttershy! Don't give advice to the enemy!" That marshmallow one told Fluttershy. "How can we be sure ya'll ain't lying?" That one with the hat spoke up without a hint of fear. "The same as always. You don't." I gave an answer and tried to move towards Remedy. Ugh, he's covered in blood, which is also quickly hardening on his fur. That reminds me. I took a quick sniff of myself, which I quickly regretted as I almost let out breakfast on the ground. Fuck. I was still smothered in that disgusting spit of the hydra. "I'm gonna take a wash." I told those six and started walking towards the river. "Not so fast." The purple one spoke and put a barrier on me. "Ugh." I groaned. "What the fuck do you want now, Purple Smart?" I asked, irritated. Her eyes narrowed in response as a small frown adorned her face. I glared back while controlling my bloodlust. I could be in deep shit with Remedy if he finds out I accidentally hurt a bunch of foals. Actually, how old are they? Twenty something is still a foal right? "Look, I'm trapped in this part of the fucking forest. If you wanna pull me out, you're welcome to try." I told them in a bored tone, a bit tired from running all around the forest. Maybe I should've tried dying at some point to, reset my body at some point. "Alright. Can one of you at least try to wake up Remedy? Preferably the nice one." I said with a slight frown. Taking a peek at Remedy once again, I started to ignore the six girls, I saw Gilda towering over Remedy with the bigger bucket. She poured water over him as he jolted up. "Oh, good. He's awake." I commented and tried to move forwards. Only to be stopped by the, dark pink? barrier. I let out an audible groan as I sat on the floor. "Let me out!" I yelled out. "Not until Princess Celestia gets here." The purple one talked back. Okay, this bitch is seriously getting on my nerves. She's not allowing me to wash myself, nor is she allowing me to check up on somepony. "Seriously? She's gonna take hours to get here!" I complained and laid down on the ground. Maybe I should just head to sleep. Let Remedy take care of this. "Good afternoon." I heard Remedy say as he walked up here. He looks like he's about to pass out. "Fucking finally. Remedy, tell that purple bitch to let me out of here so I can wash up." I quickly told him. He turned to me with a raise of an eyebrow. "Fuck made you so mad?" He asked as he walked closer, Gilda next to him. "Why do you guys keep saying 'fuck'?" Gilda cut in. "It's just a habit." Remedy answered and turned towards the six. "So, why don't we talk this over some lunch?" He offered with a gentle smile. Though, that didn't look as nice as it should've with all the blood covering him. A few seconds passed as the six stared with some hesitation. "Alright. We can stay for lunch." The purple one accepted for all of them as we started to move. The bubble surrounding me was dragged on the ground. "Now can you let me out?" I asked her. "Not a chance." She replied without looking back. "You can let her out. She's harmless." Remedy spoke up. "You ass." I told him. "We had this conversation before. You still can't chop firewood." He replied back. "Tch." I clicked my tongue as the barrier fell down. "Finally. I'm going to the river to wash myself." I told them and left. "Hold on, two of us are going to go with you to make sure you don't run." Purple bitch spoke up. "UGH." I loudly groaned. "Fine, Gilda, and Fluttershy, I think." I made my decision. "What! Why me? And her?" Gilda asked with a small frown. "Because you two are the only ones I like." I gave a simple reply and grabbed Gilda, who let out a surprised squawk at my sudden hold on her. "No way. I'm coming with." That gay one spoke up. She may have saved me before, but I just don't like her attitude. Especially since she kept violating my personal space. She stopped, but that doesn't mean that I have to like her. "Fuck no." I refused. "It's fine, her strongest attack is to run into you, and fall down before dealing damage." Remedy insulted my strength once again. "Fuck you Remedy." I told him. He ignored me. "Yeah, she is pretty weak." I heard Gilda say as she just walked out of my grip. Traitor. "Alright, but I have a condition." Purple one finally accepted. "What?" I asked. Her horn lit up for a few seconds, then stopped after a flash. Her cutiemark now glowed on my chest. That purple creep better take this spell off before leaving. "So." The pegasus that looks like a lesbian spoke up as she approached me. "Are you and her sleeping together?" She asked with a joking tone. "Rainbow!" The orange farmer, and the white unicorn admonished Rainbow. My mind blanked as I heard her question. A single mental image came to my mind before it got incinerated in the deepest parts of my brain. "Hell no!" I replied, a bit louder than intended. "What the fuck gave you that idea?!" I asked loudly. "The choker?" Rainbow said in a questioning tone. Right. That thing. "That, has nothing to do with me." I gave a reply. "Your eyes aren't shining green anymore. Can you tell me about that?" The purple unicorn spoke excitedly with a notebook that she got from somewhere. "My eyes were what!" I practically yelled the question. Sometimes, ponies under the influence of bloodlust may mistake your eyes to be shining. But I've never heard of somepony mistaking it for green of all colors. That priest definitely said it was red. "Yeah. They were glowing like whoooosh, and they gave me goosebumps." A pink blur said while shivering at the last part. I simply stared forward, my muddled brain trying to catch up with everything. "Alright, I don't know what you're talking about." I simply told them and turned towards the direction of the camp. "Camp's this way." "Do you happen to have a house around here, or at the very least a tent?" The white unicorn asked in a posh accent. "Nope. Been here for about two weeks now. Not enough time to build a house." I replied without looking back. I hope she's not one of those fancy types who whine about everything. I don't have a problem with nobles, or fancy ponies. But they can be so annoying sometimes. "Ya'll got a roof to sleep under?" The farmer asked me. "I built the foundations of a treehouse. Works fine as a roof for now." I gave a simple answer. "Well, if'n ya need help, ya can ask for help building the thing." She offered. "Hmm. You guys are, awfully trusting for just meeting me. Especially after how you reacted to Moon." I spoke as I turned to them with a small glare. Ponies don't usually just help like this. They feel suspiciously nice. Not too much, but still higher than normal. "Well, Ah can tell. Ya'll ain't lying." She replied with a simple smile. Pretty confident in that ability huh. "You must be pretty close with Nightmare Moon to call her 'Moon'." The white unicorn asked. Ugh. I can't keep calling them 'white one', 'blue pegasus' or something like that. "What're your names? I'm Natural Remedy by the way." I introduced myself. Introductions came soon as we finally made it to the camp. The second one, where I moved everything to. "Here we are, my humble abode in the wilderness." I joked a bit as I grabbed a pot of water to boil. "Wow. You built this in only two weeks?" Twilight asked with awe in her voice. "Yeah, well, two days, actually, but I can say that it turned out good." "No kiddin'. This is sturdy." Applejack complimented as she took a few steps on the platform. "I improvised." I told them and moved to start a fire. With a few sticks and leaves, I pile it into a little pyramid before grabbing matches. "I can help with that." Twilight spoke and her horn lit up with a pinkish color. With a whoosh, the sticks were lit on fire. "Cool." I commented without thinking before gathering a few bigger logs and building another layer of wood for the fire to burn. "Now that we have some time while you're preparing lunch, can I ask you some other questions?" She asked with a hopeful look. She seems to be the scholarly type. "Sure. Just, nothing too personal." I gave my consent. "Understood." She nodded with serious expression before a smile appeared. "First question. Are you using a strength amplifying spell of some kind? Because you tearing the hydra's skin with your bare hooves and a stick seems unbelievable." She asked, her eyes practically shining in curiosity. "I don't believe so." I answered. "It felt like I could do it, so I did. And it worked. It's like, knowing you can do a flip." I explained calmly as I peeled a few potatoes using the knife. I threw away the peels into the fire. "So, something like intuition?" "Exactly like intuition." I said and brought out a three big pots. Why did Celestia bring me so much cookware? Did she also bring me any other vegetables? I was a bit confused as I finally realized just how much stuff she brought. Seven different pots, two pans, two cutting boards, a spatula and ladle. Two sets of tea cups and a bunch of plates and bowls. They absolutely would've broken down by now. Some kind of magic was probably cast on them. I searched through the bag and brought out some carrots. Two cloves of garlic, one big onion, mushrooms, bell peppers. What the fuck? "Are you looking for something?" Twilight interrupted me as she stopped writing down on her notebook. "No, well, yes, but I'm more confused about this bag." I replied and dug deeper into it. I put my full leg in there, but I couldn't feel the bottom. Baffled, I just brought out a bunch of ingredients to use. Some broccoli, salt, black pepper, a bit of cheese and one lemon. "Wow, that's a lot of stuff for that bag." Pinkie Pie, was it, commented and took a cupcake from inside of it. I blankly stared as I tried to understand the situation. Didn't I have this bag like five days ago. "Oh. It's got space expansion, and a preservation spell." Twilight spoke as she examined the bag. She seemed to recognize something before shaking the thought away. "Alright, second question. Were your parents both earth ponies?" A risky question, but her curiosity is genuine I suppose. "Mom was a pegasus, and dad was a unicorn." I replied and started peeling the carrots. That's the best answer she gets, since I don't remember that far. "Really?" She was confused by that detail. "Mom didn't cheat. I can tell you that with confidence." I added with a small smirk. "Oh no! I didn't meant to-!" She frantically tried to apologize. "It's fine kid. I was just joking." I chuckled as I put the vegetables in a pot. "Oh, alright then." She gave a sheepish chuckle. "Next question! Do you have a reason to stay in the Everfree forest. It's quite a dangerous place." "You didn't notice the barrier?" I asked and pulled out the cutting board. "The barrier?" She asked back. "Yeah? You didn't notice? Pretty much everypony else who entered noticed it." I explained and started cutting up some of the ingredients. "I. Didn't. Is it dangerous?" "Not really, no. But it seems to choose random ponies to imprison. Like Moon." "That reminds me. You still haven't answered the question." Rarity suddenly interrupted our conversation. I looked at the platform, where the rest of the girls, minus Moon, one 'Fluttershy' and Gilda, were lazing on top of it. "What question?" I asked. "Are you close with Nightmare Moon?" She asked back with a curious glint in her eye and a tiny smirk. She must be the type to enjoy gossips. "First of all, her name is Moonshine." I simply stated. "And, sure. We're closer than when we first met at least." She seemed to be satisfied with that answer as she simply nodded and turned to the others. "Moonshine?" Twilight curiously asked. "Yeah. It's a weird name, but she liked it, I guess. So it just stuck." I explained as I finally finished dicing up everything. I put equal parts vegetables in those three pots and filled them up with water before hanging them on the hooks above the fire. After sprinkling some salt and pepper on it, I closed all three lids and sat down with a basket full of fish. "So, wait, you're stuck here?" Twilight suddenly asked. "Since you said that, Moonshine was stuck here." She said with a bit of uncertainty. "Yeah." I replied without being too bothered. "Been easier than it should've been actually. I've had outside help, from a friend." I gutted open a fish, one that's the size of one my legs. "That's fortunate. To have a friend who's thoughtful enough to travel inside the Everfree to help you." She commented as she almost puked from seeing me remove the intestines of the fish and throw it into the fire. "Who are they? Do they live in Ponyville?" She asked curiously while she forced her eyes to divert from the bloodied fish. At least she understands that some of us here are carnivores. "Probably not." I answered with a chuckle. "How deep am I in the forest anyway?" "Not that deep. About a ten minute walk actually." "Oh. That's good then." "Alright, next question." She pipped up and she turned a page on her notebook. "What are some of those words you keep saying?" She asked curiously. "Which ones?" I carefully asked as I finished deboning the sixth fish. Should be enough for two. "The ones you seem to randomly use. Like 'fuck', 'ass', and 'hell'. Those ones." She said those with such an innocent face that it irked me a tiny bit. "Uh. Hmm." I struggled a bit as I thought of how I should explain those to her. She seems too innocent. "Ass is simple. It just means butt." I explained a bit hesitantly. She blushed a tiny bit at that. "Hell is just another word for Tartarus." Her reaction wasn't much at that. "And finally, fuck is just a cuss." "Is it like, buck?" She asked slightly nervously. Buck? "Buck? You mean the hind kick?" I asked. "Well, yeah. But it does have two other meanings." She explained as her words suddenly felt like a teacher's. "The first one is, pretty much what you said. Just a cuss. And the second one is, um." She stopped explaining as a flush appeared across her face. "You mean sex?" I asked. She almost did a spit take as she coughed a few times before nodding. "Well, it's not really different then." I just explained. "Mhm." She nodded and scribbled in her notebook. "Are you kidding me!? That was so cool!" I heard a yell and looked at the platform again. Rainbow was in the air with an excited smile on her face as she seemed to arguing with the three others. Well, two others since Pinkie Pie seems to be just peacefully enjoying a snack, whilst talking. I have zero clue how that pony even functions. Rainbow's eyes met mine for a split seconds before she looked away and sat back down, away from my sight. Huh, did I somehow manage to offend her? "Anyways, last question!" Twilight flipped to another page. "This one is more like a personal interest." I raised an eyebrow at that. "You seem really experienced with lots of things, especially the way you handled that knife. Can I ask how you got so good at it?" She asked with genuine interest. My mind came to a halt as I heard her question. My face must've blanked since I reflexively hid my emotions. A small bout of silence passed, and I knew I should say something. "It's," I thought of the next words. I wanted to lie, but I wouldn't let myself. "It's just, experience. Lots of, experience in life. I'm quite old you know." I managed to bring my mood back up and said a joke. "I see." She said with a slightly serious expression. Then her eyes widened as she stammered a bit. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you're, old or, it wasn't my intention to." She started to struggle to come up with an excuse. As I stared a bit, a few chuckles escaped my mouth before I started to laugh it out. She seems to be quite a dork, an absolute bookworm. Oh yeah. That reminds me of something. "Hey." After calming down, I called her out. "Did you just move from Canterlot by any chance?" "Yeah, I just moved to Ponyville last week. How did you know?" "Eh, just call it intuition." So she's Celestia's student. Pretty coincidental, meeting her here. And with that knowledge, I can see why Moon doesn't really like these girls. She narrowed her eyes at me for a few seconds before shrugging and turned her attention to the fire. A few seconds pass as I start to make out whatever the other four were talking about up there. Something about suits, and a party. "How old are you anyway?" Twilight suddenly asked. "I'm exactly fifty this year." I answered. "Really?!" She asked, definitely shocked. "Yeah?" I just gave an answer. "You don't look like you've barely gone past your thirties though!" Rarity suddenly cut in as her eyes had a frantic look. "Tell me your secret!" She practically yelled the demand. "I don't know. Workout?" "He ain't lyin'" Applejack commented on the side with a joking tone. "If you're so old, how are you so strong?" Rainbow asked as she suddenly got closer. "Workout?" I gave the same answer with a slightly nervous smile. I guess mares care a lot about their looks. Except for Rainbow Dash, apparently.