Zecora kept her head held high as she walked along the paths through the Everfree Forest, keeping her senses keen as she trotted along the lines of trees and fauna. Between the thick trunks of various brown and dark-green trees, she was able to hear every single instance of a branch breaking or bug chirping through the overhanging leaves.
While most ponies would've thought of the dark forests of the Everfree as just being a dangerous and unforgiving place for whoever entered—although that description wasn't necessarily false—Zecora was still able to appreciate the serene beauty within the space as she walked. Even through the overhanging branches and thick foliage, which gave the space a dark and brooding ambience, the simplicity and mystery of the forest always captivated Zecora's interest, reminding her of why she decided to come to Eques—
"GAAAHHH!!! Zecora, I think I stained my brand-new hooficure!"
Zecora groaned to herself as she heard Rarity's wailing, a noise that the zebra had come to quickly dislike within minutes of walking down the trails. While she was glad to figure out a plan regarding Rarity less than a week after hearing her conversation with Twilight, Zecora didn't bring into account the unicorn's personality when she thought of bringing her along for a harvest.
In less than fifteen minutes, Zecora's patience began to grow thinner and thinner as the two walked through the forest. Zecora had to endure Rarity's complaints about every single detail of their hike. Whether it was worrying about her coat getting stained, complaining about her hoof almost getting chipped, and even shrieking out when she saw a bug—not even a big one, either, just an innocent beetle resting on a leaf—every shrill whine from the unicorn was wearing down Zecora's good will very quickly.
Although they were only halfway to their destination, Zecora was beginning to reconsider her plan before she heard Rarity's whining voice behind her.
"Zecoraaaaa…"
Gritting her teeth, Zecora managed to suppress the urge to snap at the mare before she breathed in deeply, calming herself down as she responded to Rarity.
"Yes… Rarity. What may it be?"
"Well…” Rarity walked behind Zecora, not being able to see how irritated the zebra was getting as she continued in a more curious tone of voice, "I was just wondering… why exactly did you need my assistance?"
Grateful that Rarity finally asked a notable question instead of complaining about something, Zecora cleared her throat before she looked back to her, managing to keep a smile on her muzzle as she spoke honestly.
"For what I'm searching for, my dear… Your special skill can help me here."
"Alright, then,” said Rarity as she spoke to the zebra with a more inquisitive tone of voice. "Now I'm curious. What is it that you're needing my help with? Jewels?"
"Actually, your assumption is right,” said Zecora in a more cheerful tone of voice. "Without you, this task would take all night."
"Oh really? What exactly is it you're looking for?"
As Rarity's voice came out in a more interested tone instead of a shrill whine, Zecora's irritancy began to vanish as she responded, glad that the unicorn was able to ignore her previous worries as she listened to the zebra's explanation.
"There is a swamp a distance ahead, with many blue jewels beneath the bed. The gems are needed for a certain brew, a medicine which is tricky to do. It is hard to find myself, since the water is so muddy. But with your gem-finding spell…" Zecora then gave a warm smile to the unicorn, showing her graciousness as she completed her rhyme. "You'll be a real helpful buddy."
Rarity gave a warm smile back to the zebra in understanding, glad that she was able to assist Zecora like this. While she usually would never be caught dead walking through a forest like this on her own, Rarity kept her stride as she followed Zecora's lead, feeling a lot better about agreeing to help as she realized the zebra's reason.
With the image of blue gems dancing around the back of her mind, Rarity managed to keep herself from noticing the forest around her as she walked along the trails, keeping her eyes locked on Zecora, who was leading the way. While she attempted to stop herself from noticing more disgusting bugs or anything that could stain her immaculate coat, the unicorn's attention went to the black stripes that went along the grey fur of Zecora's backside.
While she used to think of the stripes as just being a gaudy design element, Rarity eventually learned to ignore her past ignorance as soon as she realized that it was something Zecora was born with. Now as she followed the zebra through the forest, Rarity began to become more intrigued by the stripes as they stood in front of her while walking, unsure of what she really thought of them as she stared.
On one hoof, the stripes could just be seen as a random assortment of jagged lines that went along the zebra's coat, looking almost like ripped tears along Zecora's body; on the other hoof, while the stripes were each different in size and shape, each unique line seemed to move along the others in harmony along the zebra's body, blending alongside each other in an odd arrangement that was difficult to explain.
In some odd way, Zecora's striped body made Rarity think about organized chaos.
As her train of thought started to derail more and more with each passing step, Rarity almost bumped into Zecora when she finally stopped. Shaking her head clear, Rarity was able to stumble back into reality as she looked around, realizing where the zebra had lead her.
With the trail behind them, all that was in front of the two was a large mass of murky green water, stretching out a considerable distance among the lines of looming trees. In the middle of the pond of stagnant water, a single tree stood triumphantly above the reflective, green water, thick branches of green vines overhanging as they flowed back down to the swamp below. While Rarity never saw a type of tree like this before, the unicorn could still recognize it as being similar to that of a weeping willow, a sight which was fairly surprising, considering how out of place it was amongst everything else.
Noticing her surprise, Zecora smirked a little as she looked back to the swamp in front of them, feeling a lot better about asking for Rarity's assistance as she spoke.
"The tree that lies in the swamp ahead, has jewels on the roots in the swamp bed. I cannot see them beneath the slime, so your spell will save me lots of time."
Rarity grew a particularly big grin on her muzzle as she turned back to Zecora, looking fairly happy as she saw how simple this task was going to be for her.
"Well then,” said Rarity as her horn lit up in excitement, "let's get those gems!"
Zecora grinned and nodded back to Rarity before she reached back to her saddlebags to get her supplies. As the zebra shuffled through the contents of her bag with her muzzle, Rarity turned her attention back to the swamp and kept her horn lit, focusing her attention on the murky water as her aura searched for any gems underneath.
By the time Zecora got her net out of the bag and extended it with the rest of the handles screwed in, Rarity's horn managed to light up half of the swamp, showing several lines of glowing blue dots among the stagnant green water.
"Wow, Rarity!" said Zecora as she noticed how the gems now stood out in the large swamp. "What an impressive power! Now this will take me no more than an hour."
Glad to be able to save the zebra so much time, Rarity smiled. Zecora picked up her net, keeping it in her muzzle before she walked into the water. While Rarity was both surprised and slightly appalled that anyone would even consider walking into that murky mixture, her composure was slightly less dampened as she noticed how shallow the water was, only reaching up to the zebra's knees as she walked up to the first line of gems. With a confident smile on her muzzle, Zecora held the net in her mouth, bent down, and scooped up the first batch of gems underneath the water, grateful that she was finally able to get these jewels without searching for them blindly.
While the zebra began collecting the gems in her net, Rarity kept her horn lit as she watched from the dry ground, smiling as she saw how helpful she was to her today. However, as she watched the Zecora wade through the water and pick up more of the lit gems, Rarity's focus faltered a little as her snout picked up a particularly foul smell. With a nasty odor violating her nostrils, Rarity put a hoof up to cover her muzzle while she tried not to gag.
"Ugh!" Rarity was barely able to muster any words through her mouth as she tried keeping her nostrils shut, calling out to Zecora as she tried to keep her horn lit, "Zecora, what is that terrible smell?! Is that from the swamp or something?"
"I'm not aware of what you ar—"
Zecora gasped and looked back at Rarity, dropping her net as she looked at the unicorn in wide-eyed horror. Before the zebra could run back to dry land to help, Rarity slowly began to realize what Zecora saw as she heard a low growl from behind her.
Remembering what happened with Applejack and Spike a while ago, Rarity's heart suddenly felt like a cannonball in her chest as she stopped breathing, staying frozen as she felt the hot breath hit from behind her.
Shaking in pure terror, Rarity slowly turned her head around and confirmed what was standing before her, making her heart stop beating completely as she looked into the glowing eyes of a Timberwolf.
"RARITY, RUN!!!"
The unicorn immediately listened to Zecora and bolted away from the wood-covered beast, not even looking back as she tried to run as fast as her hooves could let her. Galloping as fast as she could on the soft forest soil, the sound of the Timberwolf's wooden paws running toward her made Rarity's heart start beating faster than she ever imagined, making her wish more than anything to have learned that teleportation spell from Twilight.
With the roar from the monster behind her coming closer, Rarity was fueled by pure adrenaline and fear as she tried to run faster, seriously feeling like she was going to get killed at any moment within this Celestia-forsaken forest.
As Rarity galloped through the forest in terror, a protruding root in the ground caught onto the unicorn's hoof, making her trip over as she fell face-down into the soft earth. Skidding a couple feet in the dirt, Rarity didn’t even care about her stained coat as she tried to get back up, making her heart stop as two forelegs stomped in front of her thunderously.
Shaking in fear, Rarity looked up, wide-eyed as she saw the glowing green beast in front of her, glaring at her as its fangs (or whatever twigs were supposed to make up its fangs) opened up and snarled at her. With tears beginning to come down her face, the unicorn clenched her eyes shut and tried covering her face with her hooves, not wanting to face the terror before her as its fangs came closer.
Because of its attention on the unicorn below, the Timberwolf didn't notice Zecora as she busted out from behind it, holding a large stick in her hooves as she swung hard at the beast's body. With a loud CRACK! Zecora's swing managed to break the Timberwolf's body apart completely, sending the fragments of its body shooting out in all directions like an explosion of wood and branches. As Rarity opened her eyes again to see the zebra before her, Zecora took no time and put out a hoof to the unicorn.
"We need to get back to my place!" shouted Zecora as she began to pull Rarity up. "A Timberwolf ca—"
Before she could finish her statement, the Timberwolf managed to reform itself quicker than expected and tackled Zecora to the ground. Still holding the stick in her hooves, Zecora managed to use it as a shield against the creature's mouth, holding it within its open muzzle as it tried to gnaw and thrash at her.
Seeing how much trouble the zebra was in, Rarity became enraged as she saw the wolf holding Zecora on her back, fueling her with pure fury as she charged at it.
"Let go of her, you monster!"
Lighting her horn, Rarity aimed straight at the Timberwolf as she fired several shots of magic, keeping her eyes on the creature as she made sure every shot hit it directly. With burst after burst of Rarity's blue magic shooting straight at the Timberwolf, the creature tried to falter back before it was shot with intense blasts of the unicorn's aura, making its wooden features disintegrate into ash before it fell over.
Screaming out in almost a roar, Rarity kept firing at the Timberwolf with her magic, leaving Zecora lying nearby in a stunned state as she watched piece after piece become ash. By the time the Timberwolf's body became nothing more than a pile of dark grey ashes (with a few charred sticks here and there), Rarity was breathing heavily.
She tried to keep herself upright, not expecting to have used so much of her magic like that. Noticing how shocked Zecora looked, Rarity caught her breath a couple more times before she turned to her, a worried look on her face as she spoke between pants.
"Zecora… are… you… okay?"
Even though it took the zebra a moment to overcome her stunned state, Zecora slowly nodded and exhaled shakily. While the Timberwolf itself wasn't much of a threat to her, Zecora was shocked to see such a dainty unicorn like Rarity act like that. While she was both terrified and impressed at how Rarity handled herself, Zecora tried to keep her cool as she lifted herself up and spoke up.
"For helping me, I am very glad…" Zecora looked back at the ash pile in front of them as she got back on her hooves, staring for a moment before she turned back to the mare and spoke honestly.
"Remind me to never make you mad."
Rarity managed to giggle a little at Zecora's response. Zecora was glad to see the unicorn acting happy again. Before she could walk over to Rarity to make sure she was alright, Zecora didn't notice the green mist begin to reappear from the ash.
Before Zecora could make a single step forward, a single claw from the remnants of the charred branches rushed out from the pile of ash, throwing both of them off-guard as it swiped at the unicorn.
With a loud smack, the floating claw managed to not only hit Rarity hard enough to make her shoot back several feet against a tree, but the jagged ends of its charred branches tore against the unicorn as it struck her, making some of the hairs of her coat shave off in a mist before Zecora lunged forward.
Not even using her stick, Zecora held out both hooves as she stomped down on the Timberwolf's charred claw, pinning it to the ground before she repeatedly stomped down on the branches to break them as much as she could.
After what felt like an eternity of stomping—although it was probably no more than a minute at most—Zecora managed to step on the claw enough to turn it into a pile of something close to toothpicks. Breathing heavily, Zecora managed to look back at Rarity before her eyes went wide in fear. Lying motionless at the base of a tree, Rarity's body was limp as she laid unconscious.
Running over to her, Zecora's worry grew even stronger as she saw several large scratches along the unicorn's back, making the unicorn's white coat slowly begin to stain with a dark red. With more blood coming from Rarity's forehead from her impact on the tree, Zecora knew time was of the essence as she quickly lifted the unicorn onto her back.
Seeing that it was going to be close to dusk by the time she reached back to her hut, Zecora didn't waste any time as she ran back through the Everfree Forest, hoping more than anything that Rarity was going to be alright.