A Cure for a Toxin.

“Hello there, how can I help you?”

Toxic bowed his head in greeting to the fellow unicorn, this one sporting a dark purple coloring. He levitated the parchment into view, displaying the brief message.

Good afternoon! I noticed you have a stream on your property, and I thought it appropriate to ask your permission to go there. I'm on orders from Canterlot to test the water quality of various streams, yours being one of them.

“Erm, if I may ask, why do you write?”

Ugh. He hated this question, but this mare as at least being civil about it.

“M-y voi-ce,”

The mare had a curious expression on her face, partially between a grimace and a grin. She had more social tact then most, and shook it off, looking at the parchment again.

“Sorry. I didn't mean any offense. Let me read this again...

The unicorn's features quickly shifted into a worried expression

“Test the water? Is something wrong?”

A fairly genuine smile dawned on Toxic's features as he shook his head, quickly writing another message.

Oh no, not at all. It's a precautionary measure, nothing too serious. I'd certainly let you know if there was something to be worried about though.

This answer seemed to satisfy the unicorn, and she nodded in agreement.

“Well, that makes sense. Hold on a minute, and I'll come with you to the creek. I left some pruning shears down there, and now is as good of a time as any to collect them.”

Toxic nodded, settling his pose to a more easygoing posture as the mare fished around for some boots, judging from her mumblings about the mess.

This was his third stop for the day. The first two had been easily accessible public streams, but this one was behind some fences that were clearly labeled 'Private Property.'

“Ah, there you are, you blasted boots! Alright, follow me.”

It was a short trot through some recently-plowed fields, when the mare spoke again.

“This is the reason for the Private Property signs. Just planting a new field, and sometimes visitors get curious and want to wander around. I like my fruits and vegetables whole rather than trampled, but that's just me.”

They made their way to the bottom of a grassy hill, where the surrounding area appeared to be slightly set down from the other hills, in a miniature valley of sorts.

“Ah, here we are!”

It was quite beautiful really, long grass waving to and fro, and the creek trickling through the recesses between hilltops. It led towards the Everfree forest, and a large cluster of dead trees stood nearby, evidence that the forest once had claimed this spot.

“Well, this is it. Those dead trees are such a pain to clear! Apparently they're leftovers from the forest, but good heavens, they won't budge!” The frustration in the mare's voice was apparent, but with a hint of tired amusement.

Would you like me to help you clear them?

The mare looked at the parchment, and then back to Toxic, a wide smile dawning on her features.

“You'd be willing to do that? I'd have to pay you of course-”

Nope! Free of charge.

The smile widened a little bit, making Toxic just that much more happy. He always enjoyed helping others, especially those who honestly couldn't perform a task.

“Umm. Let me see. Nothing fancy, honestly. You don't need to dig them up or anything, just chop them down at the trunks. Hmm. Are you sure you don't want payment? I was planning on hauling them to a separate pile for firewood.”

Toxic shook his head again.

'Tis fine ma'm.

The mare sighed, half-raising a hoof before realizing her muddied boots were still on. She settled for bowing her head briefly.

“Well, thank you. My name is Pepper Spice by the way.”

Good to meet you, I'm Toxic Shield.

He half expected her to comment about his name, but was pleasantly surprised by Pepper simply levitating the pruning shears and smiling to him again.

“Thank you so much Toxic Shield. I have been dreading that job for over a week. So...thank you.” The thanks in her voice was more than enough to lift Toxic's spirits.

No problem. I'll tell you when I'm finished. It might be a few days to get the entire thing done, but I'll see what I can do!

Pepper nodded, happily bidding him goodbye and literally bouncing back to the house with glee.

As he fished out his testing equipment, a fairly random though decided to manifest itself.

Two mares helped, and two hugs from Princess's.

Toxic Shield, you are quite the ladies-colt.

If his consciousness had a physical form, he would have given it a good smack for that. Well, first things first. Time to test the water.

The procedure was extremely simple.
1. Put water in beaker.
2. Put testing chemical in beaker.
3. Shake until dissolved completely.
4. Record if color changes from yellow to green. Yellow was good, green bad.
5. Repeat at a nearby location to ensure solid results.

It took all of about five minutes.

The records notebook stored in his saddlebags along with the beaker and chemicals, Toxic took a look at the grove of trees that had to be demolished.

This might have been a bigger job than he had intended. Luckily, he had quite a bit of free time...

And, for first impressions, he'd say he was doing rather well on that account.

He surveyed the site for a few minutes, having just eaten lunch a hour earlier. No sense in getting cramps if he could avoid it.

A sudden sense of solitude hit him. It was a strange feeling, the realization that he was completely alone in a large field. Sure, the town and Pepper's house was but a short walk away, but it still felt 'wilderness-y.'

Unfortunately, these thoughts led into others, some that he had barely suppressed the night before.

Solitude, in his case, was a close friend of loneliness. Toxic certainly enjoyed keeping to himself, but only sometimes.

Other times, he craved a different type of solitude; the kind that could be shared with some-pony.

The thought his brain had spawned last night then returned with a vengeance. Low self esteem was always his weak spot, despite reassurances from parents, and now Princess's, that he was a perfectly fine stallion.

But so many sources told him otherwise.

On the outside, Toxic changed very little, a shift in posture, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He put the saddlebags on the ground with a seemingly calm aura, but the turmoil in his mind told a completely different story.

However, he now knew exactly how to get rid of these trees.