-( Zecora's Hut, Everfree Forest, Midnight )-
Zecora was sleeping in the darkness of her hut, surrounded only by the sounds of the forest.
That was until she was awoken to the sound of a scream in the distance.
Getting up, she stepped outside the safety of her hut and search the area around it.
"Who's there?"
No response.
Shaking it off as nothing, she went back inside and back to her bed.
-(- ??? -)-
The creature slowly and quietly crawled out of the bushes. The large, mechanical claw ticked silently into the night. It began to creep closer to the small hut in the middle of the path. It knew that something was inside, and it would easily be counted as prey.
Standing partially up on two legs, it quietly opened the door and stepped inside the small structure.
Breathing could be heard from the back room, as it crept closer to its next victim.
Stepping into the room, it stood right up on its back legs and walked quietly over to the bed.
It lifted its metallic claw slowly into the air, ready for the kill. But it clicked a little too loudly.
Its victim had woken up.
-(- Zecora -)-
A loud click filled into her ears as her eyes shot open.
A tall, white, slender creature stood before her. One of its arms was attached to a large, mechanical claw covered in fresh blood. Its eyes were pure white and soul-piercing.
It emitted a extremely loud screech as it sprinted out her door, and back into the forest.
She knew she wasn't staying in this any longer. Not with that... thing running around.
She needed help.
But for the mean time, she quickly grabbed her things and evacuated from the forest.
She needed Twilight.
She headed straight for Ponyville, when the creature began to chase after her.
"Help! Help me!"
She cried for help as the creature slowly came closer and closer.
The last thing she heard and saw was the soul-piercing eyes and a loud screech.
-(- ??? -)-
It leapt towards its victim, claws out, and a loud, dominant screech. With two quick cuts, its victim was dead. It stood up on its hind legs and looked at the corpse.
Then it grabbed it by the legs and dragged back into the forest. Back to where it had found it.
Dinner time.
(-- The Next Day --)
Zecora didn't come into Ponyville that day, like she usually would.
"Maybe she's doing something important."
"Maybe. But what if something bad happened to her?"
"She's alright, Twilight. There's no need to worry about it."
"But what if she's not? Seriously, Spike. Something must have happened to her."
"Are you going even if I say no?"
"Yes. And you're saying here this time."
"But Twilight-"
"Don't worry. I'll be fine, I promise."
"I don't know about this, Twilight."
Twilight seemed to ignore him as she packed her saddlebags and left.
"She must be okay. But I must check on her, at least."
Twilight silently left Ponyville and into the Everfree Forest.
-( Everfree Forest, Sunset )-
As the sun began to lower into the horizon, Twilight ventured deeper into the forest. The shadows of the trees stretch across the ground as one by one, stars started to shine.
As she went on, she became more and more unsure about Zecora and if she is safe or not.
The sun had lowered below the horizon, and the moon shone across the path, seemingly guiding Twilight to the hut.
Everything was going smoothly. Until saw a trail of something. The moonlight mixed up the color and made it hard to see. As she leaned in closer, a faint, metallic smell arose from the trail.
Blood. It was somepony's blood.
Twilight immediately started following the trail, to wherever it led.
And the whole time, Twilight felt like she was being watched. By something.
-( Zecora's Hut, Everfree Forest, Night )-
As she continued following the trail, Zecora's hut came into view. Twilight picked up the pace.
When she came up to the door, the trail turned and led straight into the small hut.
She knocked on the door. "Zecora?"
No reply. She put her head against the door, trying to hear what's going on.
Footsteps. Rustling. Tearing of... something. What really got her attention was the constant ticking from inside.
Something bad is happening here.
Twilight slowly opened the door, and froze solid.
The floor was almost entirely covered in blood. Zecora's corpse seems to have torn in half. One half was stick out of the cauldron, and the other half being eaten by a pale creature, which didn't seem to notice her.
Twilight couldn't move. The sight made her want to puke and cry at the same time. The ticking suddenly stopped, making her shiver.
The creature looked up at her. The white, empty eyes made her begin back away.
The creature screeched at her as it sprinted towards her on all fours.
She finally gained the courage to shut the door, but the metal claw went right through the door.
Twilight ran. Not on the path, no. She ran into the forest. She had no destination other than somewhere away from that... thing.
A loud screech came from the distance, as Twilight continued to run straight through the forest.
Before she knew, she had stepped into a clearing. It was a campsite, but telling by the corpse in fire area, the creature was here as well. A journal was left by the corpse.
She looked through it. Pages after pages about the strange creature, apparently called "The Rake". The pages seemed to be just about it, until she read the last one.
"Entry 73"
"It found me. I can't get out, I'm trapped. If anypony finds this, anypony at all, get out. It's true, it's all true. Everfree is dangerous. More dangerous than our minds could imagine. If you can, just get out. I don't how much longer I h___"
It ended with a streak across the page.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
She turned around. The last thing she saw was those empty eyes.
