It was a somewhat normal day for Zecora, even if something was out in the woods around her. She got up from her bed, and decided to go get some mushrooms for her potions. She could feel it as soon as she walked out the door. The air around had seemed... heavier, and the light looked as if it was trying to escape where it landed. She could feel the pain of the forest, the trees themselves were screaming a silent scream. She stepped out of her house, and stared looking for those mushrooms.
As she walked around, she noticed more changes. The whole forest was silent. Now this was not uncommon, but every once in a while you would normally hear something. But not today, the whole forest was holding its breath. There was a loud snap from behind her, and she turned to see... nothing but forest. Somehow the forest was even more silent now. She grew nervous, and she felt as if something was watching. But there could be no delay, if all the creatures were not around, this was an opportune time to gather ingredients, especially those mushrooms. She kept walking into the darkness of the woods, looking for anything she could use for her brews. But after hours she had still found nothing, nothing good at least. Everything seemed rotten or dying, like a disease had fallen upon the forest. There was a sound. Not close, but unfamiliar to her, like a thousand large bells all ringing at the same time. She grew still, and slowly turned to see what was making the sound, hoping it was nothing but sounds in her head. Zecora still saw nothing… close. Out in the distance, she saw what seemed to be a wall of darkness. tried to walk closer to it, and saw it was slowly approaching. Zecora ran. She ran faster, and the sound of the bells was slowly getting louder. She saw a stream, and made a sharp turn, almost falling due to her speed, to run with the current. Zecora knew it led out of the forest and towards her home. But the sound got louder, and more intense, she could feel it underneath her hooves, slowly approaching her, faster and faster. Running faster than she had ever before in her life, Zecora saw her home, her nice, safe home, and bolted to it, experiencing an unnatural dread. The sound stopped. But as she reached the door, and turned to close it, she saw it. A massive black deer, towering over her. The light itself seemed to run from the area, and she could not define any details about the stag… except its eyes. Giant silver orbs that seemed to glow when put around its pitch black coat. It was bigger than her house, and its giant antlers looked as if they could break the sky, but the eyes frightened her, their blank color and emptiness that nothing alive could hold. It raised its head, and the sound of the bells were emanating from its mouth as it screamed to the sky its sorrowful song, shaking her very mind and soul. At that very moment she could feel all the pain she has ever felt in her life, dark memories brought back by the sound of the bells. As Zecora curled into a ball and tried to block out the noise, knowing this was some sort of spell. It stopped, and as she looked up to see the monster of a deer, and saw nothing. It was gone just as quickly as it appeared. But she would never forget that painful song, and those merciless eyes. She stood up shakily, and slowly walked to Ponyville.
“Even though it's pupils I could not see… I felt its eyes staring down upon me.” Zecora finished. The sisters looked at her in shock. “And so I decided to come down here, even though I was still trembling in fear.” They both sat down to process what they had just heard, both due to how concerned they were, but also because it was hard to understand the whole story in rhyme.
“What could it be… nothing like what you just described has ever happened, even in the strangest campfire stories or fables. Nothing like this.” Celestia said after a long moment of silence. They rose, and told Twilight that they had to leave. As the sun set, the princesses started to get back to Canterlot for rest, and a night of thought. But as they started to lift off, they looked at the forest and saw… a giant black figure in the treeline, and it turned to walk back into the darkness.
“There it is!” somepony below screamed, and the whole town broke into a panic.