CHAPTER 47
A HERO'S DUTY
Not long after Ironhead's display of strength, the class was walking along the path toward's Zecora's hut, Che and Cherilee in the lead. The former looked over his shoulder, seeing the students openly talking to each other while keeping their eyes on the dark woods on either side of them. The colt Ironhead had spoken to earlier turned away from his buddy and nodded at him; Ironhead smiled and nodded back.
"That was really well handled Mr. Ironhead." Cherilee commented as they passed into a shady area covered by high crisscrossing branches.
"Really? You're not freaked out about my powers or anything?" he asked turning back to her.
"Well, I'll admit I had a teensy heart attack when you split that tree in half." she answered with a sheepish grin. "You're strength is unnatural, but believe me when I say stranger things have happened in this town. Ever since Twilight moved here, this town has seen one disaster after another."
Ironhead shrugged in agreement. He guessed being the bearer of the Elements of Harmony turns one into a trouble magnet. Then again, where did that leave him and his brothers? They had lots of trouble and chaos, but it was all within themselves. Maybe the girls have had it going better than any of them did...
"You know, I would've thought you've handled children before." Cherilee's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Well I haven't really...Honestly, I just did what my dad did when I was their age."
"Your father?"
"Yeah. He's real nice." Ironhead smiled thinking about his dad. "I went on about being a hero to those kids, but he's always been my hero."
"He sounds like a good pony. You still live with him?"
"Yeah. We live like, way way into the forest." He gestured deeper into the dark woods. "Sorry, but I think taking these kids that deep's a crazy idea."
"Of course. Thankfully, Zecora's hut isn't that deep into the forest." Cherilee told him. "A lot of ponies here are really looking forward to learning from her.
"Huh..." They walked bit further in silence. "So, who is this Zecora pony? All I got from Applebloom is that she lives in the forest and makes potions and stuff..." He knew that there were plenty of wild plants and herbs growing in the forest. He recalled his dad and sometimes Solstice venturing into it to gather samples for their experiments.
"Zecora is the Ponyville's local herbalist." she explained. "She's a bit of a hermit, but she's really nice once you get to know her."
Ironhead nodded but remained silent. He looked over his shoulder to check on the class and was glad to find them still chattering happily with one another. He sought out Applebloom and found her talking to her buddy as well as two other fillies, not bothered at all by the forest. As he turned away from them, he spotted two earth pony fillies walking a little too far back away from the class.
"Hey you guys at the back, you're starting to get too far behind. C'mon, hurry up." he called out to them. The pink one turned away from her friend and pouted at him before speeding up. Ironhead raised an eyebrow as he turned to Cherilee. "Huh...What's up with her?"
She checked just who he was talking about. "Oh, that was Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon. They don't really have any other friends aside from themselves."
Ironhead checked the filly again. "How come she looked at me like I ate her ice cream or something? I just said to speed up a little..."
Cherilee just flashed him an apologetic smile. "Oh look, here we are."
As she and the class stopped, Ironhead looked ahead at their destination. His eyes widened as a large, decorated tree came into view. Its branches were twister and used to hang several bottles and vials of who knows what. Two eerie looking masks, a smaller on above the door and a larger one leaning on the side watched the group as if they were guarding the hut.
"Ah Ms. Cherilee; I was wondering when you would show."
The door opened, treating Ironhead to another surprise. The pony that stepped out was unlike any he'd seen before. Her coat consisted of black and white stripes than ran from her mohawk to her tail. She wore several gold rings around her neck and her foreleg. Her cutie mark, if you could call it that, consisted of a spiral sun.
"Your students are not the only ones awaiting this visit you know." she finished trotting up to the group.
"Zecora." Cherilee greeted trotting up to her as well. "I trust that everything is all set for today."
"Why but of course. All that they will learn have no better source." the zebra replied before turning to the students. "Welcome my little ponies to my humble abode where many things great and mysterious are stowed. For all you who are excited, you will not be upset for what I have in strore is not something you would forget."
Does she think that rhyming thing up in a second? Ironhead thought as Cherilee led the class inside. As he followed them in, Zecora caught notice of him.
"What is this a new face I see. Come closer so I may look at thee." she asked politely. Deciding to be polite, Ironhead trotted over to introduce himself.
"Hey there. I'm Ironhead. I'm here to keep an eye on these guys while they're here in the forest." he said nodding to the zebra.
She nodded back at him in returned before addressing the teacher. "Ms. Cherilee, where is Big Mac? I thought he was your guard in case of an attack."
"Oh, he caught the flu earlier. It was a good thing Ironhead here was able to fill in so quickly." she replied as the last of the class entered the hut.
"How unfortunate that he has a flu. Perhaps I could make him something that could help, a sickness healing brew." Zecora offered.
"Oh no; he's doing fine. Granny's Smith's making this family recipe thing that's suppose to cure him. If she can get it right that is." Ironhead added with a chuckle.
"Ironhead here says he lives the the forest." Cherilee added much to Zecora's surprise.
"What's that you say?" She turned to him eyes wide in surpise and wonder. "Can this be? Others live in Everfree?"
"Huh?" Ironhead said with a start. "Y-yeah. I live in the forest too but like way deep. We've never met before so yeah it's that deep."
Zecora smiled and gestured to her hut. "A pleasant surprise to meet my forest kin. Now that the students are inside, would you like to come in?"
With her leading the way, Ironhead entered the hut and looked around. The interior of was full of wild and unknown scents coming from the herbs and bottles that hung from the ceiling and filled up several shelves. Several masks carved similarly to the ones outside hung on the ceiling as if they too were guarding the interior. A small bed with a yellow spotted blanket stood in a corner underneath a small window.
The whole class was seated in the middle surrounding a large empty cauldron on a fire pit. Ironhead sat down by the edge while Zecora moved towards the center. The class's curious chattering quickly died out as she arrived at her place in front of the cauldron. She cleared her throat drawing everypony's attention.
"Again welcome to my home most eager little ponies. I am proud to show you all my most favorite of hobbies. Curing rashes that itch and sores that throb is nothing but my simple, rewarding job. But making potions that heal and potions that renew, are not the only kinds that I can brew."
She yanked down a bottle dangling from the ceiling with her teeth and poured it into the cauldron. As a small cloud of white smoke poured out, a few students standing in front leaned forward to get a better look. Grinning slightly, Zecora moved to a side cabinet and took a small dish of dark yellow powder. It went into the cauldron changing the smoke from white to dark green and the mixture to bubble violently.
"I see your suspense has increased tenfold." She picked up a twisted root lying on the ground and held it above the gurgling brew. "Now allow me to show you something to behold."
The root fell into the mixture and turned it bright green. A column of green smoke suddenly erupted from the cauldron and surrounded Zecora's body like a snake. Several students gasped and quickly scooted backwards at the sight, but all the striped shaman did was smile. She rose on her hind legs and swung her arms sideways; the smoke split in two, coiling around her outstretched arms.
Zecora raised them into the air, the smoke rising and merging into a sphere. With a swing oh her hoof, the sphere shrunk and contorted eventually expanding once again and forming the shape of a flower. As a few students gasped, the flower shrunk, the smoke contorting again and forming into the shape of an elephant that raised its trunk at the crowd. With another wave of her hoof, the smoke formed an over sized pony head which stuck its tongue out and wagged it from side to side making the whole class plus Ironhead laugh.
As everypony ooed and ahhed as more green smoke rose from the cauldron forming intricate shapes and forms, Ironhead felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a rather distressed-looking Cherilee, his grin vanishing instantly. She beckoned him towards her, and the two of them crept backwards careful to avoid being noticed by Zecora or the foals.
Once they were near the entrance, Cherilee rounded on him. "I did a quick head could, and we're short two ponies. Have you seen Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon?"
"Huh? Yeah, I saw them when we went in here..." He turned back at the class watching as Zecora sprinkled some red power into the cauldron and saw no trace of the two rich fillies. "Maybe they went outside."
Cherilee checked the class one last time before heading outside with Ironhead. They looked around the clearing, but there was no trace of either of the two. "They gotta be around here somewhere; you check the back while I'll look around here."
She nodded and left to do just that. Ironhead walked over to the path they came from wondering if there was any trace of them. When he found none, he moved over to the surrounded trees and looked around even pausing to hear for a snippet of conversation or something. Hearing none, he went back to the hut and peered inside feeling glad to notice that the fillies absence hasn't been realized yet.
"Mr Ironhead? I think I found something." Cherilee said from the other side of the hut. Ironhead walked around the building and came across her standing in the middle of the freakiest garden he'd ever seen. Plants with spotted leaves, thorny stems, gnarled up vines, grotesquely-shaped fruit and smelly flowers were planted in long, neat rows. "I found something near these strange blue flowers-"
"Don't touch those!" Cherilee, whose hoof was a second away from touching the plant, flinched and drew her hoof back. Ironhead was quickly at her side, eyeing the blue petals with contempt. "That's Poison Joke. It won't kill you, but it'll do something totally embarrassing if you touch it."
"Really?" She eyed the flowers suspiciously. "They don't look so bad. Did something like that happen to you?"
Silence...
"Mr. Ironhead?"
Horrible recollections...
"Mr. Ironhead?"
Being immensely grateful that Scar had no idea about the incident...
"Hello?"
"Huh-what? Yeah...seriously don't touch those." he finally said rather sharply. He turned back to the flower patch and notice two flowers bent.
"Those two look like they've been trampled on." Cherilee pointed out. "You think Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon became exposed to these flowers?"
"That sound right, but..." He turned his attention to the hut. "There's a cure for it though. Zecora's got lots of medicine and stuff. If they got affected, then they could've gone to Zecora to get cured."
She did some thinking and came to an ugly realization. "But they're children, and they have a reputation in class as well. They would't dream of going to Zecora if it meant showing their embarrassing state to the others...So they must've tried heading back to Ponyville..."
"Alone? Are those two crazy?" Ironhead let out an annoyed sigh and trotted away from the garden. "I'll check the path; maybe they're still there."
"I'm coming with you-"
"Sorry miss, but no." She stopped in her tracks.
"I'm sorry Mr. Ironhead, but they're my students-"
"And if the rest of the class find out all of us are gone, they're gonna freak out." Ironhead pointed out leading Cherilee to pout. "Look, stay here and make sure the rest of the class's OK? I'll find those two and bring 'em back before something happens."
Cherilee tensely bit her lip, looking from the hut to the path that led to it. "Oh...Fine; I'll the keep other students busy." She turned to him, eyes wide with concern like she was the very mother of the missing foals. He was a stranger to her, and yet he was the only pony she could turn to in such a desperate time. "Please bring them back safely."
Understanding her concerns, Ironhead gave her a firm nod. "Don't worry. I'll get 'em back safe." He quickly turned and galloped out of the clearing, sending up a small dust cloud in his wake, and onto the path that led away from the hut. Letting out a worried sigh and composing herself, she smiled like everything in the world was fine and perfect and reentered the hut where everypony was still paying attention to Zecora.
Everypony but three fillies...
"Didja hear that?" Applebloom whispered excitedly.
"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon ditched and headed into the forest? Yeah I did." Scootaloo replied with a nod.
"What were they thinking? I hope Mr. Ironhead finds them soon." Sweetie Belle added.
"Huh? Sweetie Belle, these are Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon we're talking about." Scootaloo said hovering for a second before landing.
"I know, but that doesn't mean we should just let something bad happen to them." the unicorn reasoned.
"Actually, Sweetie Belle's right here Scoots."
"Aw c'mon; you too Applebloom?"
"Uh huh. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them do we?" Sweet Belle nodded while Scootaloo rolled her eyes. An idea suddenly popped into Applebloom's young mind. "That's it; we should go help Ironhead find 'em."
"What?!" both of her friends shouted, quickly slapping their hooves over their mouths. When nopony reacted to their shout, Sweetie Belle continued. "Applebloom, we're in the Everfree Forest; you seriously think we should go find them?"
"Uh huh." she replied with a nod. "All we gotta do is find Ironhead and help 'im out. Y'all saw how tough he is."
"Wait, you mean help him bring Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon back? Sorry, I just don't see it." Scoots admitted.
"Look at it this way, maybe if we do something totally nice for them, they'll start to lay off us a bit." Sweetie Belle reasoned.
The orange filly pouted as she stood in thought, her friends watching her expectantly. "Well...I do like the idea that they'll owe us for saving them..."
"Plus, findin' lost ponies does sound like a neat Cutie Mark doncha think?" Applebloom said elbowing her lightly.
At that, Scootaloo's mind was made up. "Alright I'm in." All three of them grinned excitedly at each other. "We'll have to find a way to sneak out though..."
"Leave it ta me." Applebloom said smirking confidently. "You two just act all natural OK?"
They both nodded and turned their attention back to Zecora who was showing off an ornately carved wooden mask to the rest of the class. Applebloom's hoof suddenly shot into the air. "Hey um, Zecora. Ya think you can show everypony that light makin' potion ya showed me b'fore?"
The zebra noticed her and smiled. "Why of course Applebloom, a good suggestion for my next presentation." She tossed a few herbs and poured a light blue liquid into the cauldron. "Now be warned my little ponies for this next brew will cause great illumination."
With a final addition of a few leaves, the contents of the cauldron flash and emitted a bright light so intense that everypony had to shield their eyes. Everpony else looked in wonder at the spell completely unaware that three fillies sneaked past their teacher and out of the hut. Once outside, they made a break for the the path that led out of the clearing, laughing excitedly as they began their search.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS LOST PONY FINDERS! YAY!"
With a growl of frustration, Ironhead dug his hooves into the ground, sending up a small dust cloud as he screeched to a halt at the very entrance at which they entered the forest. He scanned the area and still found no trace of the two missing fillies. His dread, which slowly grew as he neared the entrance, reached its peak once he arrived.
"Girls!" he called out hoping for an answer. "Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon! Where are you guys?!"
The lack of response only amplified his dread. Crap. Still no sign of 'em. He shook his head in frustration. Dammit; they must've gotten off the path. Every second I'm not there, there could be some monster attacking them; I gotta find them!
He turned around and galloped back into the forest. This time however, he veered off the path and went deep into the forest. Branches and twigs raked against his toughened hide, but all that really mattered to him was saving those two fillies before it was too late. This was more than his job, more than some task their teacher gave him; this was what he was, a hero, a defender of the weak, a paragon of courage and duty, and he had the caped medal on his flanks to prove it.
"Girls, can you hear me?!" he called out again as he delved deeper and deeper into the forest. As he put more distance between himself and the path, the trees changed, growing more gnarled up and twisted. He could practically imagine the pair of them huddled up together, crying their terrified little hearts out, wondering if they would make it out alive.
"Girls!"
That's when he heard it, a splashing sound somewhere in the distance. He quickly changed direction, his momentum causing to slam against a tree and almost knock it over. "Girls hang on! Just stay there!" he yelled galloping at full speed, almost crashing into every tree he came across. Just a few seconds later, he spotted two figures, one pink, the other grey, crouching before what looked like a small creak.
"Girls!" Both ponies turned to him as he galloped towards them. "Thanks Celestia I found-Sweet holy buck!"
"Don't. You. Dare. Laugh." Diamond Tiara hissed through her teeth.
Frankly, he was a little more horrified than amused, but decided not to tell her that. What he was looking at could only be caused by that damn plant. The pink filly before him was covered head to hoof with large, pink zits. Judging by the small amount of...fluid on her, he guessed she had tried popping a few of them; the thought made take a step back.
Silver Spoon, who was sitting by the creak, wasn't faring any better. She looked like she was trying very hard to keep her mouth shut, but a hint of white poking through her lips caught his attention. Realizing that hiding it was pointless, she gave a defeated sign and opened her mouth revealing a set of crooked, horribly misshapen teeth.
"Ugh..." Ironhead said with a grimace leading the silver filly to turn away. "Hey, c'mon; it doesn't look that bad. I'm think that the teeth thing can be fixed with some braces..."
"Braces?!" Silver Spoon shrieked. "No way! I look ridiculous enough already!"
"You an me both Silvy." her friend added moving to pop another zit.
"Uh hey, I don't think you should pop those things." Diamond Tiara ignored him. "A-anyway. You don't have to pop them. We could just head back to Zecora's-"
"And risk everypony seeing us like this? No way!"
Ironhead sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well that's the only way to get cured of this." The pink filly looked away as if she were actually considering the option. "Besides, this is what you guys get for ditching class."
"I told you not to touch that flower!" Silver Spoon said through crooked teeth.
"Hey, you were the one who decided to check out the garden!" Diamond Tiara retorted.
"You agreed with me didn't you?!"
"Well you were supposed to remember the way back to Ponyville weren't you?!"
"We wouldn't need to go back if you hadn't touched it!"
"It was your idea in the first place! We're both lost in the middle of the Everfree Forest, could get eaten any second and look like freaks because of you!"
"Whoa OK. That's it; break it up you two!" Ironhead shouted stepping between them before their fighting could escalate. "I get it; you guys mad and scared and don't wanna get embarrassed. Tell you what, I'll take you guys back then distract your classmates while Zecora cures you. That sound OK?"
Both fillies looked at him for a moment before lowering her gazes. "OK. Sorry for everything DT." Silver Spoon said with a weak smile.
Diamond Tiara bit her lip and sighed. "C-Can we just get out of here? I thought I saw something following us on the way here." she said shuddering a little while looking around them.
"Don't worry. Whatever it is, I'll protect you guys." Ironhead said with a reassuring grin. Silver Spoon looked more relaxed, but Diamond Tiara continued to look afraid. "C'mon; let's get back before Ms. Cherilee freaks out again." he said trotting away from the creek, the two fillies following in his wake.
"Ah! What was that?!"
"I dunno. The wind maybe."
"Gah! I heard something over there!"
"Probably a bird or something..."
"There's something crawling up my back!"
"Eww! It's a bug!"
"Get it off me Silvy! Get it off!"
Ironhead sighed and shook his head as the two bickered and complained about their whole situation. They had been like that since they left the creak just a few minutes ago and were started to get on his nerves. They would jump at the slightest noise and question whether he really knew the way back to Zecora's.
"Ugh, good thing I found you guys." he muttered.
"What was that?" Diamond Tiara asked checking her pimpled body for any more bugs.
"I said it's a good thing I found you guys." he repeated. "No offense, but you two wouldn't last too long in here."
"Duh, we're not weirdos."
Her words made him stop in his tracks leading the two of them to crash into him. "Hey, what's the hold up?" Silver Spoon asked rubbing a spot on her forehead where she had hit him.
"You think I'm a weirdo?" he asked turning around.
"Well yeah." Diamond Tiara said coming out from behind Silver Spoon. "Normal ponies wouldn't survive in the forest, but freaky ponies like you and Zecora can do fine in it."
His brow furrowed. "Freaky? 'Cause of my powers?"
"Uh huh. They're not normal." Diamond Tiara pointed out. "Maybe that's why they all live in the forest."
"Whoa hey. Just 'cause I got powers doesn't mean I'm not like everypony else." Ironhead reasoned. "I mean, I get up in the morning, eat hay, workout, mess with my brother and love my family like every other pony. There's nothing weird about that is there?"
"Hmph." Diamond Tiara turned her zit-tipped nose up. "You just act normal, but that doesn't change that fact that you aren't normal."
Ironhead opened his mouth to respond, but the familiarity of her argument stopped him. He is not like other ponies. All he does is act like one. None of his actions could change what he truly was. This filly was beginning to sound bit like Psych. The idea of a young girl growing up to be somepony as spiteful and bitter as Psych made his head spin and almost him pass out. Deep down however, he know that she couldn't all bad. He was just glad that, as mean as she sounded, she wasn't a sociopath like his brother.
"Look kid, I don't believe-"
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Ironhead's head immediately snapped up, his ears raised to pick up any and all sound. His head swiveled around several times trying to catch the shriek once again. Judging by its high pitch, he realized with a heart-stopping shudder that it came from a filly. Both Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were instantly huddled up against him looking around as well. "H-Hey...what was that?"
"HEEEEEEEELP!"
"ON MY WAY!"Without a seconds thought, Ironhead galloped deeper into the woods in the direction of the scream.
"H-hey, wait for us!" Silver Spoon cried out galloping after him. "DT c'mon! You don't wanna get left all alone now do you?" Her gulped and nodded shakily before following suit.
Ironhead was galloping at full speed once again taking care not to knock over any trees in his path. He kept his ears perked trying to pick up the scream and heard it again. He swerved to the left and continued on in the direction wondering why would another student ditch the class wander into the forest like...
Like two other fillies...
"CRAP!"
He dug his hooves into the ground and screeched to a halt. When he finally stopped, he turned around, his inside dropping upon seeing that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were nowhere to be found. He started forward, but a clump of bushes rustled and out they came looking like they just did the Running of the Leaves twice.
"How...could...you... forget us..." Diamond Tiara said falling on her side as she caught her breath.
Ironhead was immediately at their side looking panicked. "I-I'm so sorry guys for ditching you. I-I-just-When I heard that scream, all I thought was-"
He stopped mid-sentence when he heard a clump of bushes behind him shudder. He immediately turned around and assumed a fighting stance while the two fillies cowered behind him. As he was about to leap forward, three young fillies burst out of the bushes and headed in their direction. Ironhead's jaw dropped.
"A-Applebloom?! What the hell are you guys-"
"EVERYPONY RUN FOR THEIR LIVES!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders charged right past them not even bothering to take notice of the the popular fillies' predicament. Ironhead craned his head to call out to them, but stopped when he heard a loud crunching sound from in front of him. He faced forward and saw an entire tree yanked out of the ground by a giant claw and thrown aside. All the jaws dropped as a giant scorpion stood before them brandishing its stinger and clicking its pincers menacingly.
"Ah buck me..."