The moon hasn’t shined in a while.  Well, not to me anyway.  I don’t really think I deserve that.  Nothing shines.  Not the moon, not the stars, and certainly not the sun.  All I see is just a plain old night.  The only reason I can tell apart the day and the night is because that’s when everyone is active.  I believe that this will last forever.  

I’m getting ahead of myself.  My name’s Applejack.  Quick little imformation about myself:  I'm a tomboy, so I might sound like one.  But deep down inside, I'm a true girl.  Now you may be asking yourself: “Why isn’t anything shining for me?”  Well I can tell you the long version of the short version.  I have plenty o’ time on my hooves, so I guess I’ll give you the long, detailed version.  I’ve been paying more attention to things lately.  It’s become sort of a habit.

Anyway, it began all those years ago.  All of those long, terrible, dark years ago.  When I was eleven years old, my parents had another baby girl.  They named her Apple Bloom.  She was yellow, with some beautiful red hair.  They gave her a bow tie that’s way too big for her.  I never why they gave it to her.

Anyway, when Apple Bloom was born, my parents agreed that it was getting a little cramped in our small house, so they decided to move.  I've lived at that farm since I was born.  It was really hard to say good-bye. One of my most fondest memories of the farm was when I got my cutie mark.  But that's a story for another day.  

We’ve gotten huge success with our apple business, so we had enough money to go ahead and move.  My parents wanted to make our new home look exactly like our old one.  I thought that it would've taken a lot of effort to do that, but they surprised me.  I couldn't tell if we took our own farm and just moved.  We moved a few minutes out of a town called Ponyville.  

Ponyville.  I can remember the first day I went into town.  We just moved in, and my parents asked me to go and buy something to eat for tonight.  I said yes, because I wanted to go check out my new town.  

As soon as I walked passed the first building, I was tackled by a hyper-active, cotton-candy.  

"Hi there.  You're new in town, aren't you?  My name's Pinkie Pie, and I am here to welcome you to Ponyville."

"Why, tha-"  

"Since you're new here, I might as well throw you a 'welcome to ponyville' party."

"Well that seems nice, now if you cou-"

"Hey, do you want me to take you on a tour of Ponyville?"  She smiled.  It was wider than any other smile I've ever seen.

"Not right now.  But uh... could you show me a resteraunt.  I came to town for some food for mah family."

"That would be no trouble at all.  Follow me."  

We did just as she said.  She showed me the place where she worked, and the place where I had my first meal.  The food tasted so grand.  It may have been some plain bread, but it was probably the best bread I've tasted.  

I said yes to the party to PInkie Pie, and she smiled again.  I couldn't help but smile at her.  She was my first friend that I've made in Ponyville.  It was the happiest few days of my life.  They were also secretly the worst days too.

A few days later, Pinkie Pie threw the party for mah family.  Apple Bloom had to stay home, because you know... she was a baby.  Big Macintosh wasn't really the social type, so he stayed inside and babysat.  Pinkie Pie had the party in a clear spot on the farm.  It was a really good spot too.  But it was too close to the farm.  So we had to move it farther, and we eventually had to stop because we were breaching the forest of apple trees.  If only I knew what was hiding behind those trees...

The party was a blast.  I haven't that much fun for a long time.  But that much fun was a lot to handle.  So I decided to go explore the trees a little.  So much time was spent climbinng over fallen limbs and logs, my hooves started to hurt a lot.  I decided to take a break from all the walking and climbing.  I found a decent looking tree to sit under.  I admired the night sky for a while before I heard something.  It wasn't a rustle of bushes, it was some kind of moaning sound.

This scared me.  I don't think that I've been as scared as I was that very moment.  I stood up, and examined the area around me.  It wasn't long before I saw it.  It crouched down right there in front of my eyes.  It seemed about four feet tall from a distance.  It's terrible body... pale, with abnormally long claws.  It was ponylike, but it obviously wasn't.  I stared at it as it did to me.  It's eyes were nothing but bottomless, dark sockets.  After a while of just staring, it started to move towards me.

I ran back towards the area where the party was.  The first people I went to were my parents.  They were convinced that I just saw something in the forest, but I knew it was something else.  This was the thing that would break my sanity.  This was the death of the light.  I'll update when something else happens.

I haven't seen the creature after that night.  I started to believe that my parents were right and that it was just some crazy hallucination.  I still can't sleep at night though.  I knew deep down inside that something was wrong.  Something was always wrong.  

After almost an entire week, I saw the creature again.  My dogs Winona and Jay were barking at something that night.  This was common for them, but it still annoyed us.  I was the one who usually went out and calmed them down, and tonight was no exception.  Winona and Jay were still in their cages when I got there.

"Winona, Jay, calm down."  That's when I saw what they were barking at.

That same creature from that night.  The same dark, empty eyes.  I couldn't just let that thing kill my dogs, so I fended it off.  I ran towards it, and it ran back into the cover of the trees.  I knew that it wasn't safe out there, so I let my two dogs sleep in my room that night.  Truth be told, I needed them to be in my room.  I wanted some kind of protection, some kind of comfort.  They were good enough for both.

After two weeks, that thing started showing up everywhere.  If I was having some kind of conversation with somepony, there it was.  Doing bnothing but standing and staring.  I tried my best to ignore it, but it always found a way to break my concentration.  I never had a full conversation with anypony.  They always either got to freaked out by me or they plain didn't think I was sane.  And they were right.  

Just one full month ago, I found out what I was dealing with.  Apparantly, this thing is called the Rake.  I was walking through Ponyville to get some tools for the farm, when I was stopped by a man.  He looked old, and was very strange looking.

"It's coming for me!  You have to help me!"  He yelled.

"What's coming for you?"

"He is, he is coming for me.  He won't go away, he's always there."

"Who is it?"

"...The Rake."  

I looked at him with a strange look.  But since I thought I was going insane, I gave him a chance.

"Who's the Rake?"  I asked sympathetically.

"The Rake is a terrible creature.  He's pale white, with two long claws.  And the eyes... oh Celestia, those eyes.  Nothing.  There's absolutely nothing in those Celestia awful eyes."

I paused.  "T-the Rake?"

"Yes.  No one believes me, they think I'm crazy."  A tear ran down his face.  "My family..."

"I believe you.  I've seen it too."

"You... you have?"

I swallowed.  "Yes."

His expression changed from sadness to dread.  

"I must go."  He started to trot off.

"Wait!  How do I stop this thing?"  I yelled after him.

"You can't!"

"What do you mean I can't?"

"I can't tell you anything else.  Just remember this: Don't give it to him.  Don't let him have it."  That was the last I ever saw of him.  A couple days after, the police found him dead in his home.  He hung himself.  A note was found in his hand.  It said: I'm free.  

I arrived home late.  I knew for certain that that thing was coming back.  The Rake was coming for me, and I didn't know what to do.  But there was no time for thinking about what to do.  There was a bigger matter at hand.  My dog Jay was dead.

Jay was half eaten right outside the gate.  Somehow he got out, and he was mutilated.  My parents said it was some timber wolves or something, but I know the truth.  I even told them that I knew what it was.  They laughed at me.  They told me that I should probably stop eating so much before getting to bed.  They thought I was crazy.  They thought that I was crazy.  I'm not crazy.  I saw the Rake for myself.  People just don't make those things up, it's impossible.  

I wasn't crazy, and I'm not crazy now.  I'm. Not. Crazy.  I'll update later.

The last week was a whirlwind of terror.  I was constantly in fear.  I felt terrible.  I stayed at home sick while my parents and Big Macintosh started to plant some trees.  I kept a shotgun next to me at all times.  Benefit to living a farm life.  It's loaded in case the Rake decides to come around.  After a while of nothing but terrible silence, I smelt it.  The smell of death.  Rotting.

I got my shotgun and sling it over my body.  I walked carefully up to my room while following the smell.  I grabbed the gun and carefully pointed it in my room.  There it was, crouched over in the corner.  It had a smile on its face.  

I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.  "GO TO TARTARUS!"  I shot at it, but it dodged the bullet, and knocked that gun out of mah hand.  Then it spoke.  It spoke in a shrill, high voice.  I couldn't understand what it said.

The Rake then jumped out of my window, and I chased after it.  First I grabbed my shotgun and ran after it.  Winona started to follow me, but I sent him back.  It was my job.  I had to end it.  I moved at a pace where it was waiting for me to catch up.  

I eventually cornered in a cave.  It was a small cave, but it looked like it was inhabited.  A few candles illuminated the cave.  It was bright enough in there that I could see the blood splattered wall.  Terrible images were all over the wall.  They were horrible, the kind of stuff I didn't want see.  But that was just the entrance.  I walked into a little room.  The stentch was awful.  Animal parts were scattered around the room.  It was probably it's feeding place.

I turned around, retching, when I saw it again.  The Rake lunged at me, and I blacked out.

I woke up in my room about half an hour later.  It was still dark outside, and my parents weren't home.  I was too afraid to take a step outside.  Paranoia is here to stay.  I though I was going insane.  The Rake was going to kill me, and I knew it.

I finally understood what the Rake said to me.  It said it wanted sacrifce.  It wants sacrifice.  Mom.  Dad.  Mac.  If you here this, then get out.  Get the buck out of here.  I don't care where you go, just go.  

It's done.  I gave him the sacrifice he wanted. He was with me three, three, three nights. He just stands next to my bed, watches me, and sometimes he’ll whisper to me. He told me he wanted sacrifice, bloody sacrifice. He said I had to do it. I knew he was right. They don’t matter to me. I can be alone. My parents thought I was going crazy. Little did they know, haha. So last night, I told him, I told him I’d do it. I’d give him a sacrifice, a good good sacrifice, so he will be happy.

I told them to come with me, I wanted to show them a pretty spot I had found. My parents believed me, and they brought Big Mac too.  The idiots even brought Apple Bloom.  I told them to leave her home, but they brought her anyway.  I thought that there was no use to fight it.  They walked with me, walked to the Rake hole. I opened it up, and pulled out a gun. I told them to go into it. They asked what was I doing, and I told them he wanted to see them. They went in the hole, with Applebloom in my mother's hand, and we walked through the tunnel. My mother and Apple Bloom were crying. Then mr. Rake came out of his hiding place. He looked at me, with his black eyes and smiled. I told him to wait.  He did.

I grabbed Apple Bloom out of my mothers hands.  The bow dropped from her head.  I thought to myself to either grab the bow, or just leave it there.  I thought for a long time before I decided to grab the bow tie.  I looked at my parents for the last time.  And they asked me why.  Why.  Then he killed them. They screamed a little bit. I didn’t care. He was happy now. He pointed at the hole, and I knew it was time to leave.

I’m back home now. All alone, in my dark room. I’m not scared of the dark anymore. I like the dark. It reminds me of my friend the Rake. I’m okay. I’m okay. Dammit I’m not okay. I just led my entire family to their death. I’m crazy.  I wept in my room for a while, with Apple Bloom beside me.  She was crying too.  I heard my door opening.  I looked up, expecting to see the Rake.  Instead, I saw my brother, Big Macintosh.  I thought it was impossible, but there he was.  Thing is, he's not the Big Mac I knew.  It was the Rake.

He thanked me for the sacrifice, and he told me he would be there for me.  He was so happy for the sacrifice, he gave me a wish.  One wish.  I was insane, I told him that I wanted to never see the light of day.  I said that I wouldn't be able to see the sun ever again.  I didn't want to see the stars of moon either.  I didn't want to see anything shine ever again.  He granted the wish.  

Everypony else sees the stars and the sun and the moon, but I don't see anything.  All I see is constant darkness.  Nopony else looks at Big Mac any different.  The Rake replaced my brother like it wasn't any big deal.  But I know what he really is.  He's mr. Rake.  

It's been a long ten years.  Apple Bloom just turned eleven today.  She is a lovely little filly.  But she's a constant reminder of what I did.I still live in this constant darkness, but I've gotten used to it.  I became an Element Bearer.  The Element of Honesty, that's what I am.   Quite often, I wonder why I'm the element of honesty, because I've never told Apple Bloom the truth about mom and dad.  And when I try to, Big Mac looks at me.  Mr. Rake looks at me, with his terrible dark eyes.  

Mom.  Dad.  Big Mac.  I'm sorry.  I am sorry for what I did to you.  Please... please forgive me.  

I found out why they gave Apple Bloom that bow.  It's a reminder.  It's a reminder for mr. Rake that Apple Bloom is his next sacrifice.  Apple Bloom.  I swear on my life, that I will do everything in my power to stop him from taking you.  I swear.