14. Headcase

To the dismay of Rarity, Celestia was busy at the Crystal Empire to help protect it from the winter. And as much as she'd like to visit, a train journey wasn't the sort of thing she imagined would be kind to a sore head. That left her with one other option to explore in curing her terrible headache, the mysterious Zecora. While she rarely visited her, mostly because of the journey through the Everfree forest it entailed, it seemed logical that the zebra would know of a natural remedy. Recovering her magic wasn't as important as relieving the pain for the moment.

Knocking on the door left her teeth chattering. Actually arriving at her destination proved to be a lot more nerve wracking than she had first expected, leaving her almost afraid that Zecora would actually be there. But her head was still in pain, four days after the incident, and what would be the harm in talking for a while anyway? So long as she had the relief first, a nice and casual chat with her wouldn't bother her at all.

The door opened to a slightly surprised Zecora. "Rarity with eyes of blue, tell me what ails you." Rarity made her way in slowly, being very careful to avoid bumping any of the zebra's items. At least there was the reassurance that she wasn't in the middle of any important preparations. No ingredients were laid out on the table, and the large pot was cold. It would hardly do to tumble into something crucial and cause a huge mess.

"Oh, there was a horrible plant that had lots of long vines, it tied up everyone and began to swallow them whole. I managed to wipe it out, but it had a terrible effect on my magic, and it’s still causing a lot of pain. Do you know of anything that will relieve a severe headache?" She sat down on the guest chair before placing her forehead on the table surface to provide a bit of relief. Zecora herself made her way around the room to collect ingredients while she spoke.

"Ah, a tendriculos you have defeated, now you come to be treated." The array of ingredients that were set down on the table before her caused a small gasp. So many unusual and exotic flowers and plants. All she really wanted was a simple cure that wouldn't take up much of Zecora's time; this however looked like a three course meal. But what did she mean in the first part of her sentence?

"A tendriculos?" The name was unfamiliar to her, and probably to Twilight, yet Zecora identified it from a very basic description. Something not native to Equestria then, but why was it in Applejack's orchard? "Do they like eating apples, as well as ponies? It was in a corner of Sweet Apple Acres, near the forest." Zecora was just as surprised as she had been; maybe she had experience with them.

"Such a monster coloured green, another of its kind I have not seen. Perhaps Twilight will know more, plenty of factual resources, and mystic lore." By that time, Zecora had finished grinding down the ingredients, now mixing them together in the now boiling pot. The smell alone brought a bit of relief to Rarity, easing the intensity of the throbbing. Coming here had definitely been worth the worrying trip through the Everfree forest.

Seeing the remedy poured out into a cup for her was a sight she couldn't enjoy enough. Relief, at long last! Of course, she was careful when sipping it down; it wouldn't do to cause more pain in the process of relieving some. As she drank, the warm soothing feeling in her head continued to spread across the pain. It was almost unbelievable just how quickly she began to feel better. "Thank you again, for your help. I can't imagine myself staying reasonably sane much longer with the constant distraction."

Zecora nodded with a smile, it was always a pleasure to help others for her. And once Rarity had explained the task she had been given, there was the promise of future support to come. "Travel safe to your home, do not let your curiosity roam." Rarity smiled softly before making her way out into the forest. Roaming was definitely something she wouldn't be doing any time soon.

*

"Tendriculos? And you're certain that Zecora said it's not native to Equestria? I don't have many books on extra-equestrian topics, and those I do have are about dragons and griffons." Twilight and Spike were both sifting through the bookcases anyway in search of a reference to the plant creature. Rarity took it upon herself to catch the books that flew in her direction, harder without use of her magic, but not impossible.

"Zecora seems to be the only one who knows anything about them, although she did mention not seeing one herself. I just feel it would be advisable to find out what we can about it, in case there are more around." A knock at the door drew her attention away from cleaning up after Twilight. For a moment, she hesitated in opening it in case some poor pony would take a book to the face, but eventually pulled it to. Pinkie Pie hurried past in a blur of pink which sent her dizzy again, Rainbow Dash was about to do the same when she noticed Rarity. Instead, she paused to hug her warmly.

"Fluttershy says that you found out the name of the bushy monster. So didja? Didja? Didja?" Twilight almost fell off the ladder when Pinkie poked her head out of the bookshelf. While Twilight was rather upset at almost falling, and probably hurting herself, it was hard to feel genuinely annoyed at Pinkie's eccentricity. And yet it took a few moments to come up with the exact words to say.

"Yes Pinkie, we did. Unfortunately, it looks like we need to search elsewhere, perhaps Canterlot, then the Crystal Kingdom. I just don't have anything in my library about tendriculos', let alone big pony eating plant monsters." Rainbow Dash looked to Rarity for a moment in concern that she wouldn't be up to two long train trips. Rarity however stepped forward with a very confident stride.

"I realize that making a journey like that on such short notice is inconvenient, but we have a duty as the wielders of the Elements of Harmony to keep Equestria safe. That plant nearly defeated all of us without much of a fight, save for Twilight's quick thinking on what spell would work. We can't let others fall into danger if there's more of them waiting to attack."

None of the occupants of the room expected Rarity to speak like that, and especially so soon after her terrible temporary loss of magic. "Uh, gee Rarity, that's... really big of you to say. Are you sure you're okay? Wouldn't wanna see you hurt yourself again." Rarity glanced at Spike to reaffirm her confidence before looking at the others again. Even Pinkie Pie paused in her bouncing to listen.

"I'm fine Spike, if anything; it taught me a great lesson. I saw that my usual nature of fleeing situations put all of my friends in terrible danger. And when I did my best to save them, I was not prepared for the consequences Which is why this time we must be ready." Her eyes found their way back to Dash, who once again rested her hoof on her shoulder. A vote of confidence from the toughest pony of them all, that was reassurance enough.

Twilight stepped back down from her ladder to join the circle that had formed. "Alright, Spike and I will clean up while you two go get Fluttershy and Applejack. If you really feel up to leading this search, then I think we're all ready to help." Pinkie waved her hoof around in a desperate attempt to avoid being left out of any plan. "And Pinkie, I think we'll need some snacks on the way, wouldn't want to do research on an empty stomach."

With the five of them leaving it at that, Rarity and Rainbow Dash quickly departed to inform the other ponies of their plan. "That was awesome how you stood up like that. Honestly, I probably would have waited longer before making up such a plan, but you did great getting it out just like that. Must be learning from me huh." It was nice to see Dash becoming more supportive of her, and less embarrassed at that.

"I care about everypony, and relying on them for help reminded me of that. More importantly, it reminded me of how much you do for others when things go bad. Now, I think you know better how to explain things to Fluttershy, I'll head over to get Applejack." Dash nodded briefly before taking off towards Fluttershy's cottage. Sweet Apple Acres wasn't too far away by that point at least.

Until now, she had been hesitant to visit Applejack out of paranoia around plants. She was understanding of course, but it still felt bad to not check-up. Now wasn't the time to become fretful again. She had been very assertive back there, and it was important that she continued to be assertive throughout. After all, while it had been Twilight's suggestion to check in the major libraries, she had been the one who made it clear they had to.

Rarity almost knocked over the stacked piles of clean apples in her haste, Applejack seemed to be in the middle of sorting out what remained from the tendriculos infestation. "Applejack, Zecora identified the plant as something foreign to Equestria, and we need to find out what it is exactly. I'm very concerned about there being more around. How quickly can you come?" Applejack didn't waste time in putting her work to the side.

"Sure thing Rarity, I'll be at the train station right away. Also glad that your visit to Zecora worked out, you look far better now than you did back at the hospital. That headache cure sure must've done wonders for you." For a moment, Rarity held onto that last statement. Her sudden burst of confidence, was it because of something Zecora put into the remedy, to boost her self-esteem when she was in a low mood?

No, she took control of the situation herself. All it required was a head clear of constant pain.