The young Earth pony furiously struggled against the grip of two other ponies who were firmly holding her as they walked towards the forest. She knew that there was nowhere else to run to, but at least trying to resist was better than just giving up.
"No matter how much you struggle, you will not escape." said one of the ponies following behind them. "When darkness is captured, it will never be free."
"It's not darkness!" she screamed furiously.
"Shut your mouth." snapped one of the ponies holding her. "Nopony wants to hear your black tongue."
"You all are horrible!" She refused to remain silent. "I hope you all end up in Tartarus!"
"It will be you who ends in there." said the other pony holding her. "As all witches end up."
They stopped at the edge of the forest, and the Earth pony's eyes widened nervously. Another one of the ponies behind her walked up, and firmly wrapped a stretch of cloth around her eyes. A blindfold to make sure she couldn't find the way out. She continued to struggle, but with less effort from exhaustion.
She was marched into the forest, and they continued walking for quite some time. Finally, they stopped walking, and she was suddenly thrust up against a tree. She tried to run away, but was held up against it by the two ponies who had been holding her in the first place. She was tied to the tree with braided vines, and was finally released.
"You are a traitor to your kind, witch." said one of the ponies, but not the ones who had been holding her down. "Leave us now, for surely no one will ever take in vile scum like you."
"Never come back, for we will know who you are." said another. "We can all see the mark of dark magic on you."
"You'll wish you didn't do this to me!" she yelled, fighting against her bonds.
"Silence!" snapped one of the ponies who had been holding her. "You are a disgrace to us all! Unicorn magic is not for Earth ponies, only the foolish and simple-minded would ever think otherwise! Now leave!"
Their hoof suddenly slammed into the Earth pony's forehead, and she winced in pain. They started to walk away, but the Earth pony said one last thing. She didn't yell, but still said it loudly enough to be heard.
"You can forget me, but I'll always remember that you killed me."
The memory echoed through Darkwood's head as she slipped down into the underground passage that Celestia and Luna had build for her to enter the castle without being seen. Nopony else knew about it, or could enter it. Her hoofprint unlocked the entrance and exit.
She pulled her hat down tighter in anger at the memory, but managed to relax. She was with friends today. Anger would ruin the mood. She unlocked the entrance, and walked into the medium-sized room. There were no doors or windows, and the only other way to enter besides her passageway was to teleport in. Luna was already there.
"Pleasure to see you, Darkwood." said Luna, the two sharing a hug.
"Nice to see you too, Luna." She felt happier just from seeing her. "How have you been?"
"Very well. Celestia and I were having some issues, but Starlight Glimmer helped out. She switched our cutie marks so would spend a day in each other's horseshoes."
A small smile formed. "Neat. How was that?"
She shrugged. "We both did terribly. I messed up several things and Celestia only managed to deal with one nightmare. It was Starlight's, actually, since she was worried that we would go all evil-tyrant or something of the like."
Darkwood rolled her eyes. "Gee, I wonder who made her anxiety so much worse. Perhaps somepony by the name of Twilight Sparkle?"
"She meant well."
Both ponies walked over to where three chairs were set around a table. There was a tea set and a plate of sandwiches. Though Darkwood didn't need to eat, she still could.
"Today we decided to try some for dandelion root tea and cornflower sandwiches." said Luna. "How do those sound?"
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"Like they're food." said Darkwood.
There was a flash of light, and Celestia appeared in the room. Darkwood's eyes lit up at seeing both of her friends, and went over to give Celestia and hug.
"Hello, Darkwood." said Celestia. "Sorry if I've left you two waiting for me."
"It's fine, I only arrived about a minute ago."
Dandelion. Cornflower.
Celestia nodded, and then all three ponies went and sat down at the table. It would be a rather odd sight for anypony else. The two rulers of Equestria having tea with a completely unknown Earth pony wearing a battered stetson. But here it was just three friends hanging out together.
"Luna told me that Starlight switched your cutie marks." said Darkwood as Luna started pouring the tea. "How was that?"
"A very interesting experience." said Celestia. "Though, I'd rather not have it happen again."
"Agreed." said Luna, placing down the tea pot. "The whole thing felt very bizarre."
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"Anything else of interest happen recently?" asked Darkwood.
"Nothing really." said Celestia. "How have you been?"
"Good. I was exploring in your old castle, and was setting off every trap just for fun. The tripwire was out of spiders, though. Guess they don't like it when their webs are destroyed every week."
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"I wouldn't think so. And how have the timber wolves been?"
"Same as always." She put a sandwich on her plate. "But at least they still stay in the cave while I'm gone."
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"Anypony come into the forest recently?" asked Luna.
"Not that I know of." She poked at her teacup. "It's been quite peaceful."
Dandelion. Cornflower.
Luna frowned a bit. "Darkwood, are you feeling alright?"
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"I'm fine." she said. "Why do you ask?"
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"It's just that you normally seem more excited."
Dandelion. Cornflower. Dandelion. Cornflower.
"Just been thinking about something." She paused. "Do you miss your parents?"
There was a moment of silence from the unexpected question. "Well, of course we do." said Celestia. "But everypony has to pass on eventually." She paused. "What about your parents?"
Dandelion. Cornflower. Dandelion. Cornflower.
"Not particularly." said Darkwood. "Same goes for the rest of my tribe." She scowled. "Sensitive bunch, they all were."
"In what way?" asked Luna in a voice that said "you don't need to talk about this if you don't want to".
"Have I told you two how I died? Or have I just told you about Symbe?"
"Just about Symbe."
She vaguely nodded. "Ah. Probably should tell you before I forget to." Dandelion. Cornflower. "See, I had been studying unicorn magic so I could find a way to use our Earth pony magic to crop our crops better. But back then, if anypony were to study magic, they would be branded as a witch." She paused. "And then they would be led away into the nearby forest, which was known as the Forest of Darkness at the time, and then left for dead."
Dandelion. Cornflower.
Both alicorns were upset by this. "And... they branded you as a witch?" asked Celestia.
"Yep." Dandelion. Cornflower. "Some ponies told the chief about what I was studying." She paused. "Their names were Dandelion Seed and Cornflower Seed." As if reciting off a list, she continued. "Dandelion had a mane of the same color and a cutie mark of the same plant. Held it back in ponytail using a vine as the tie. Her coat was light green. Cornflower also had a mane of the same color and a cutie mark of the same plant. Her had a short, spiky mane. His coat was pale purple."
"You remember all of that?" asked Luna.
"It's one of the two things from way back that I still remember in perfect detail. The day of my death and the day it was stolen." She paused again. "Symbe at least gave me a second chance."
"What relationship did you have to Cornflower and Dandelion?" asked Celestia.
"..." Tears started to slide down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"N-no." Darkwood interrupted her. "It's fine." More tears started to fall. "I-I want to tell you. It's just hard." Celestia and Luna couldn't help but glance over at each other nervously. "T-they were... Were... They were my parents."
There was silence between the three ponies. Darkwood gently wiped away her tears using her napkin, before she started to cry harder.
"I-is it wrong of m-me to want i-it to be able f-for Symbe to apologize b-but not th-them? Because I'll n-never be able to forgive th-them." She paused, and then stood up. "I-I've got to go. It w-was nice to see y-you two. Tell me wh-when you're next f-free."
She walked up to the entrance to the passageway, and walked out before either Celestia or Luna could say a word. As she started down the tunnel, she broke into a sprint, with tears pouring down her cheeks.
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"I hate you!" she screamed into the silence. "I hate you, I hate you!"
Dandelion. Cornflower.
"I hope that you're in Tartarus! Being punished for all of your crimes! And not just killing me!" She continued to cry. "You killed Lavender when you ditched her for your own safety! You destroyed Oak Leaf's dreams! I didn't even like them, but you took it too far! You deserve to be punished! And I've been blaming Symbe for everything!" she continued. "But at least she didn't kill me! You're the murderers!
She realized that she had already made it back into the Everfree Forest, but didn't care enough to worry that somepony had heard her yelling.
She continued walking until reaching a familiar waterfall. Darkwood stared at the falling water for a few minutes, before looking down at the ground.
"... Hello, Symbe." she said, pausing for a moment. "I never meant to kill you." Another pause. "I never meant to kill you." Her tears stopped falling. "I never meant to kill you."
Several years later...
A unicorn with a white coat and red mane stared at the chains of fire around her hooves. They had been there for years. She had given up on counting how many. But the fire wasn't as hot as it used to be. It used to be blazing white, but now they were just orange flames. She supposed that it was from her regrets as the years passed and her begging for forgiveness.
"Sorry, Darkwood..." she whispered, still not used to the burning pain of the fire. "I shouldn't have done any of that to you..."
"Can you ever forgive me?"
Symbe looked up in surprise as she heard the Earth pony's voice echo down.
"Did... Did you just ask me for forgiveness?" she whispered.
There was no response. Symbe continued staring where her voice had come from.
"You don't deserve my forgiveness for anything..." said Symbe. "I just want your forgiveness... But you never have to give it to me if you don't want to..."
"I forgive you."
Symbe's eyes widened in surprise, not even noticing as one of her chains vanished.
"Y-you forgive me?"
"But can you forgive me?"
"Of course! You don't even deserve blame!" Her other chain vanished, but she still didn't notice. "I'm the one who should be sorry!"
"... Would you be willing to help me out?"
"Wh-what?"
"Please." Darkwood sounded desperate. "Please, I need your help. I need help from a... a friend."
Symbe completely froze at the last word. "I don't deserve to be your friend."
"Then help me so you do." The black sky above Symbe began to fade to light blue. A ring of light appeared half a metre above her. "Help me, Symbe."
"..." She reached her hoof up towards the ring as the center began to glow white. "Of course I will."
A moment later, Symbe found herself next to a waterfall, being hugged tightly by Darkwood. She felt her magic that had been transferred to Darkwood flow back into her, along with some of the Earth pony's magic. She didn't even ask why.
"Thank you." said Darkwood, releasing Symbe from her hug.
"Wh-why me?" asked Symbe. "Why do you need my help?"
She smiled. "Because we're going to help save Equestria. And I want to do it with my oldest friend." She pulled down her stetson tighter. "Since I can easily accept the apology of any life-saver."
Dandelion. Cornflower.
