The timber wolves have been killing any ponies that dare to enter near the Everfree Forest, to avenge their creator, Darkwood. But has she really left the world forever?
The timber wolves have been killing any ponies that dare to enter near the Everfree Forest, to avenge their creator, Darkwood. But has she really left the world forever?
The green-maned and whited-coated Earth pony stepped off the train with a neutral expression on her face, and looked around the station with minimal interest.
Interesting... she thought, Last time, this station was painted blue.
She started walking into the town, when a pink-maned and pink-coated Earth pony popped up in front of her with a large smile.
"Hiya!" cried the pink-coated Earth pony, "My name is Pinkie Pie, but you can call me Pinkie!"
"Is that your full name or a nickname?" asked the white-coated Earth pony.
"Well, my full name is Pinkamina Diane Pie!"
"Then I would prefer to call you Pinkamina."
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkamina bounced happily in place, "So, what are you doing in Ponyville? Are you visiting Sugarcube Corner? Because we have all sorts of super tasty treat there!"
"I am looking for Sweet Apple Acres. Could you direct me there?"
"Sure thing!" she pointed past a building towards a grassy area, "It's right over there!"
"Thanks." the white-coated Earth pony instantly walked off in that direction.
"Wait!" called Pinkamina, "You didn't tell me your name!"
"Maybe later." she then walked out of Pinkamina's sight, and towards Sweet Apple Acres.
She arrived at Sweet Apple Acres within two minutes, and walked up to a yellow-maned and orange-coated Earth pony who was currently bucking the apples off the trees.
"Excuse me," she said to the orange-coated Earth pony, "Is this the farm where zap apples are grown?"
"Yup!" said the orange-coated Earth pony, pausing from her task, "Sweet Apple Acres is the only place in all of Equestria where zap apples are grown! Though, they haven't started grownin' yet. No howls from the timber wolves means no zap apples growin'! They'll probably been startin' soon!"
"Do you think that I could look at the zap apple trees? I study rare and magical plants."
"Ah don't see why not! Just follow me!" the orange-coated Earth pony started walking, with the white-coated Earth pony following her, "By the way, mah name's Applejack; what's yer's?"
"I prefer for ponies to guess my name."
"That's rather odd. Don't ya want ponies ta know who you are?"
"Maybe in due time."
Applejack simply nodded, and continued towards the zap apple trees. She stopped in front of a large area of barren trees, and pointed at them proudly.
"These are the zap apple trees!" she said, "They may be barren right now, but they'll have leaves by the second sign!"
"Sign?" asked the white-coated Earth pony.
"Well, there are five signs that the zap apples are grownin', or full grown. The first is that the timber wolves in the Everfree Forest howl. The second is that the sky gets covered in dark clouds, then a spark jumps across the branches, and the zap apple leaves form. The third is when a flock of crows circle above the farm in an apple shape, and blue flowers appear on the trees. The fourth is a meteor shower, which causes the flowers to blossom into small gray apples. And finally, the fifth is when there's a lightning storm over the orchard, and the apples become rainbow-colored with a rainbow-colored aurora shinin' behind 'em!"
"Interesting..." her voice faded off, and she approached one of the trees, "These trees are so beautiful in the light..."
"Uh, are you okay?"
The white-coated Earth pony didn't respond, and simply stared at the tree with wonder. The gently reached her hoof up, and placed against a small indent in the tree, when howls suddenly resounded from off in the distance.
"The timber wolves?" asked Applejack in surprise, "But they usually howl at night! Why are they..."
She trailed off as her eyes shifted back over towards the white-coated Earth pony, who was frantically trying to pry her hoof away from the tree, but it wasn't moving. However, she didn't have a look of fear or surprise on her face, only determination. A green glow began coming out of her hoof, and she gritted her teeth.
"Cover your ears." she said.
"What?" asked Applejack.
"Cover your ears! Do it now!"
"But-"
"Just do it before-" the Earth pony cut off as her eyes snapped closed, and she let out an ear-piercing scream.
Applejack stared at the Earth pony in complete shock, before she quickly sprinted away without a word. The Earth pony continued screaming, and dark red tears slid down her cheeks. She fell down on to the ground, but her hoof stayed in place on the tree. Her hoof finally slid down from the tree, and she stopped screaming. The dark red tears continued to pour out of her eyes, and the Earth pony slowly got back to her hooves.
"No..." she whispered, "She wasn't supposed to see... Nopony was supposed to ever see..."
"Hey!" called Applejack, running back with five ponies following behind her, "Are you okay?"
The Earth pony's eyes snapped open, and she sprinted away from the six ponies, towards the Everfree Forest.
"Where are you going?" called a blue-coated pegasus that was part of the group, "Are you crazy?"
"Stay away from me!" screamed the white-coated Earth pony.
"Why?" cried out a purple-coated alicorn.
The Earth pony turned around to face the six ponies, just a few metres from the Everfree. Her eyes were no longer green as they had been earlier, instead, her eye sockets were completely empty, and all that she had were two glowing red orbs.
"Stay away from me!" she screamed.
"Who are you?!?" cried the alicorn.
"My name is Darkwood!" she turned, and sprinted into the Everfree Forest, "And I am Thy Pony of Timber Wolves!"
Darkwood ran deep into the Everfree Forest, and stopped in a small, cleared area. She quickly ran over to a nearby tree, and pulled out a pair of dirt-covered white saddle bags with red star-shaped clasps. She pulled out a mahogany tree branch, and began to draw in the ground with it.
As soon as she was done drawing, Darkwood placed the stick in the center of the drawing, and pulled several red candles out of the saddle bags. The wicks were burnt very low, but she didn't care. She placed ten candles in strategic places around the drawing. She quickly pulled a jar out of the saddlebags, which had a black ember burning in it.
"Release..." whispered Darkwood, opening the jar.
The ember flew out of the jar, and lit all of the candle wicks. She quickly slammed the jar over the ember before it could vanish, and put the lid on just as quickly. The candles were all burning with the black embers, which seemed to be pushing the light away. Darkwood pulled the stick out of the center of the drawing, and tucked it back in the saddle bags. She stood in the center, and closed her still-empty eyes. A dark red barrier began to form around her from the candle wicks, which encircled her like a dome.
"I don't want to hurt anypony..." whispered Darkwood, as the dome began to close.
"Wait!" suddenly cried a voice.
Darkwood's eyes flicked open just in time to see a flash of magenta light, before the purple-coated alicorn sudden appeared in front of her. The dome closed, and casted an eerie red glow over her and the alicorn, who looked rather nervous.
"I-" started the alicorn, before Darkwood interrupted her.
"You followed me into the Everfree Forest," she said, "Are you mad?"
"I wasn't just going to let you run off like that! Applejack told me that you were the one who was screaming, but why were you? And who are you?"
"I already told you my name. I am Darkwood."
"That's not what I meant. I meant-"
"Your friends are wondering where you are."
"Huh?"
Darkwood pointed around at the barrier, "This makes whoever is within it invisible. You friends are standing just outside, calling for you."
"How do you-"
"I have my ways. You should leave before something happens to them. Perhaps the timber wolves will come and maul them."
The alicorn's eyes widened in horror, and she took a step back from Darkwood.
"How could you say something so awful?" she asked.
"Necromancy can alter your brain, you know." said Darkwood, her eyes finally fading back to normal."
"Wh-what?!?"
"How do you think I made this barrier? I am not a unicorn."
The alicorn looked down at the drawing underneath her hooves, and her eyes widened even more.
"Th-this is a pentagram..." she said nervously.
"Fascinating observation," said Darkwood, "Now go away."
"I'm not leaving until you tell me who you are."
"And I do not wish for you to die. Now take your friends and go away. Do you not know that the Everfree only contains those of evil? The only nice thing here is that zebra."
"You know Zecora?"
"Not personally. Go away."
"I still won't leave until you tell me who you are."
The red barrier suddenly wavered, as one of the candles burnt out. Darkwood's eyes widened, and she took a step back. She kicked over one of the candles, putting it out, and all of the other candles stopped burning. She suddenly jumped over the alicorn, and her friends who had been standing outside of the barrier, and slammed into a manticore that had been running towards them. The six ponies behind her cried out in surprise, but Darkwood ignored them, and kicked the manticore back.
"Timber wolves!" she yelled, blocking the manticore's stinger with her hooves.
With a growl, five timber wolves leapt out from behind the trees, and attacked the manticore. The manticore instantly fled, and the timber wolves gave chase. Darkwood turned around to face the six ponies, looking rather mad.
"The Everfree is no place to talk," she said, "How about we go somewhere safer?"
"Y-you're dead?!?" cried Twilight, her voice echoing through the crystal castle.
"My soul is still alive." said Darkwood calmly.
Eight ponies and one dragon were all sitting in the map room, and the first thing that Darkwood had told everypony was that she was actually dead.
"Then how are you alive?!?" cried Twilight, who was failing at remaining calm.
"Alicorn, I have already told you in the forest what I use: necromancy." Darkwood was completely calm while saying everything.
"Necromancy is illegal," said Starlight, "It's very highly monitored and documented."
"Well a couple thousand years ago it was not. The best place to practice necromancy was the Everfree Forest, so long as you didn't perish while you were in there. The timber wolves were very good at killing ponies foolish enough to enter the Everfree."
"What is it with you and timber wolves?" asked Twilight, "That's the second time you've mentioned them!"
"You ever wondered where the timber wolves came from?"
"They're creatures made of dark magic, but I've never actually considered who made them..."
"Gander a guess who did."
Twilight's eyes widened in realization, "Y-you made the timber wolves." it wasn't a question.
"Along with a bit of 'help' from whomever that idiotic unicorn was when they decided to animate a dead wolf with sticks. But yes. The timber wolves are made out of my magic, though granted, I never meant to actually make them."
"What do you mean?" asked Starlight.
Darkwood simply explained how she had ended up in the Everfree all those years ago, and when she ran into a majestic beast that was actually a wolf corpse being animated by dark magic-infused sticks. She got to the end of the story where she cried for her newly created timber wolves to get revenge, and everypony was staring at in with mixed looks of fear and horror.
"Then how did you come back?" asked Twilight softly.
Darkwood's eyes narrowed, showing a glimmer of anger.
"Symbe," she said, her voice dripping with hate, "Oh, let me tell you about Symbe..."
A young unicorn mare with a red mane and a white coat smiled as she laid the bones out on the pentagram she had made. She was so enraptured in her work, that she wasn't bothering to look out for any dangers.
"Just need a little bit of magic to infuse you with..." whispered the unicorn, "But there's no chance I'll give you mine..."
A growl caught the mare's attention, and she looked up to see a timber wolf staring down at her from at the edge of the chasm. The mare grinned, and her horn lit up red. The timber wolf pounced down at the mare, and she blasted it with a beam of magic. The timber wolf exploded into sticks, and she quickly grabbed one of them with her magic. She laid down the stick with the bones, and blasted them with a beam of dark magic.
"Now it's time to see if my studies prove fruitful..." whispered the unicorn with a grin as the pentagram lit up.
The bones were levitated into the air, into the shape of a pony. The stick from the timber wolf was levitating in place of one of the bones in the right forehoof. The light coming from the pentagram intensified, and the mare had to look away and shield her eyes. She didn't notice the re-formed timber wolf staring right into the light.
The light suddenly stopped, and something fell onto the ground. The unicorn looked back to see that the pentagram had vanished, and an Earth pony mare was lying on the ground. The unicorn grinned as the Earth pony jumped to her hooves.
"What?" asked the Earth pony, looking around, "What just happened?"
"It worked!" cheered the unicorn, catching the Earth pony's attention.
"Who are you?" asked the Earth pony, "And why am I not dead?"
"I just reanimated you using necromancy," said the unicorn, "And I am Symbe. Tell me your name."
"My name is Darkwood, and-"
There was a growl, and both ponies turned to see the timber wolf glaring at Symbe. Darkwood instantly walked forward to the timber wolf, and stuck her hoof out.
"Are you mad?" asked Symbe quietly.
"I am petting my creation," said Darkwood, as the timber wolf sat down next to her, and she gently rubbed it with her hoof, "My precious timber wolf..."
"Y-you made the timber wolves?!?"
"In a way."
"But you made them?"
"Yes."
"Then they are now mine."
Darkwood looked up at Symbe, who was grinning.
"What do you mean?" asked Darkwood.
"I gave you life again, little Earth pony. You now belong to me, and by extent, your timber wolves belong to me."
"But I am The Pony of Timber Wolves."
"You will say that you are Thy Pony of Timber Wolves."
"I shall do no such thing!"
Symbe suddenly reached forward, and slapped Darkwood, who tumbled onto the ground.
"You shut your mouth, mud horse!" snapped Symbe, and Darkwood flinched from the verbal assault, "I brought you back to life, so be grateful! Now you tell me your name!"
"D-Darkwood..." she whispered, getting back up.
Symbe's horn flared up dark red, and she launched a beam of magic off. Darkwood flinched, but Symbe had been aiming at the timber wolf. The timber wolf lit on fire, and Darkwood quickly moved away from it. Symbe smirked as the timer wolf was reduced to ashes within moments, but didn't notice the thin line of green magic that flowed into Darkwood from it.
"What's your name?" snapped Symbe to Darkwood.
"T-Thy Pony of Timberwolves..." she whispered.
"Good," Symbe turned towards the pentagon on the ground, and began to wipe it away, "Now you're going to safely lead me out of this forest,, or else. Got it?"
"Yes..." whispered Darkwood.
As Symbe wiped away the pentagram, Darkwood felt anger build up in her. How dare this unicorn just casually use dark magic to restore her from peaceful death and then force her to do her bidding? Darkwood glared at Symbe, who had finished wiping away the pentagram.
"Actually," said Symbe, turning around towards Darkwood, "Tell me: where do manticores live in here?"
"Manticores?" asked Darkwood.
"Yes, you idiot! Manticores! Where do they live?" her horn flared up threateningly.
"A cave," lied Darkwood instantly, in fear, "At the mouth of the river."
"What river?"
"The Everfree River, of course," there was definitely a river somewhere in the forest, "Where else would they get water?"
"Alright, then. You lead the way. And no detours."
Darkwood nodded, and started walking up and out of the chasm, with Symbe following her. When she got to the top, she randomly chose a direction, and began walking. Symbe scared her. Darkwood continued to walk blindly through the forest, until she finally heard the sound of rushing water.
Water... thought Darkwood, But that doesn't mean river...
She continued walking forward, until reaching the source of the sound, which was a large waterfall. Behind her, Symbe snorted with disbelief.
"A waterfall?" asked Symbe, "Really? This is clearly not the mouth of the river. But I suppose this is what I get for thinking an Earth pony could think they knew where something was."
Darkwood's anger flared up, but she hesitated, before bucking Symbe right in the face.
"Why you little-" started Symbe, before Darkwood whipped around and slammed her against a tree.
"Close your mouth," hissed Darkwood angrily, "You are an insolent idiot who is messing with forces she doesn't understand! You used dark magic to revive me, and therefore I am still dead. I will take no remorse in killing you."
"You wish you could!"
Symbe blasted Darkwood with a red beam of magic, sending her sprawling across the ground. She stopped in front of the river, and stood up in fury. She jumped out of the way of Symbe's next spell, and charged at her. She slammed Symbe against a tree, again, and then turned around to buck her forehead.
Darkwood suddenly felt a rush of magic enter her, and she collapsed onto the ground. She turned back around, only to see Symbe lying on the ground, not moving. Her eyes widened in realization as Symbe's white coat became more and more red. Apparently she did take remorse in killing her.
"I..." said Darkwood out loud, "Didn't mean to... I just... Wanted her to leave..."
She suddenly fell down again as her head throbbed painfully. She felt information rush in, and realized that it was because she had managed to take Symbe's magic away. So much on dark magic flooded into her brain, and even detailed drawings of pentagrams. Darkwood sat wordlessly on the ground as she learned more than she ever wanted to know about dark magic, and she didn't even hear her timber wolves approaching to see her.
"What have I become?" whispered Darkwood.
Something suddenly rubbed up against her, and she turned to see a pack of timber wolves. She could still see the hate in her eyes, and felt a sudden urge to destroy the remaining timber wolves.
But then all of their hate will go back into me, thought Darkwood, And then I will want to kill so many ponies. And Symbe knew far too much about how to murder and then revive the dead... So the timber wolves much remain as they are... And I will stay in the forest to monitor them...
Darkwood remained sitting on the ground for several more minutes, until she finally stood up. She jumped over the river, and started walking, with the timber wolves following her. To be honest, though, she had no idea what she was even doing.
Everyone stared in horror at Darkwood, who stood expressionlessly.
"There." said Darkwood. "Now you know how I'm here. Goodbye."
Darkwood walked out of the castle, leaving the stunned ponies and dragon. She started walking away, when they suddenly sprinted out after her.
"Darkwood, wait!" cried Twilight.
Darkwood started walking faster, before breaking into a sprint. Twilight suddenly teleported in front of her, causing her to stop.
"Get out of my way, alicorn." said Darkwood angrily. "I have somewhere else to be."
"Where?" asked Twilight.
"It's none of your business. I'll just leave for a couple decades so if I come back, nopony will know me."
"Why would you want nopony to know you?" asked Twilight as her friends ran up behind Darkwood.
"Nopony needs to know a corpse. I'll just keeping on doing what I've been doing for hundreds of years, with no interruptions."
"But you don't have to live alone in the Everfree!"
"What will I do?" snapped Darkwood, glaring at Twilight. "Make some friends or something?"
Twilight's face lit up. "Yes! You should make-"
"Only to watch them all die away?"
Twilight's eyes widened, and Darkwood walked by her.
"Twilight Sparkle," said Darkwood harshly, "I was created in this world before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Everyone I have ever known is completely and definitely gone. Unless you wish to kill me or help me to befriend the Royal Sisters of all ponies, do yourself a favor, and forget that I exist."
Darkwood walked off towards the Everfree Forest, but paused and looked back.
"By the way, the Zap Apples might be a bit underdeveloped for a day or two."
With that, she walked into the woods without another word.
"Go to the cave." said Darkwood to three timber wolves that had been waiting for her near the edge of the forest. "I will be there later. I will call for you if necessary."
Without hesitation, the timber wolves ran off out of sight, leaving Darkwood alone. She started walking through the forest, treading quietly on the many sticks and leaves. The forest never seemed to change, no matter how many years passed by. She stopped in front of withered tree, and sat down.
"Why did I have to miss that one day?" she asked softly. "The wolves had been there... But I had forgotten..."
She sighed, and gently brushed her hoof down the decaying tree trunk.
"At least you found it." she briefly smiled, but it quickly flickered away. "And I made it just in time... You nearly died..."
Darkwood thought back to a day that had happened less than a century ago, and closed her eyes. She had gone to this tree that was now dead once every year. She had missed going to it on that day. But as fate would have it, a pony had shown up on the day she had been gone.
She looked at the vibrant purple ivy, wondering when it had appeared in the forest, when she heard one of the timber wolves howl. She quickly turned away from the ivy, and ran towards where the howl had resonated from. That meant it was the day she needed to go to the tree, and she could not be late.
"Please, I need to make it in time..." muttered Darkwood as ran.
Her ear twitched as she came close to the tree, and she heard a second set of hooves pounding on the ground. Darkwood frowned, and ran faster. The timber wolves were chasing somepony. She sprinted to the edge of the forest, and saw an older filly standing in front of a rather well-built house staring at the timber wolves fearfully. Darkwood slammed her hoof down on the ground to signal the timber wolves to come, just as the filly began to bang two pots together.
"Timber wolves..." hissed Darkwood threateningly.
The timber wolves quickly returned to her, their eyes blazing with hate. Darkwood glanced over at the filly as she went inside, before quickly sprinting back to the tree.
"I better not be out of time from that..." she muttered nervously, before skidding to a stop in front of the tree.
The tree had already withered. That was how specific the timing had to be for it to not die. But she was too late, and the rainbow fruit tree was dead.
"No..." she whispered softly. "No... It is gone... What do I now use to depose of my excess magic? Unless... Unless she took some of the fruit... If she replants it..."
Darkwood turned towards the timber wolves that were all staring silently at her.
"Go to the cave." she said. "I will be there later."
The timber wolves briefly hesitated, before running off deeper into the forest. Darkwood turned and walked back towards the edge of the forest where the timber wolves had chased the filly. She carefully walked over the filly's house, and listened for voices.
"Why, these fruits are beautiful!" said a mare's voice. "And you found them in the Everfree?"
"Yep!" said a filly's voice happily. "We can eat them now and plant the seeds so we have even more trees for later!"
She did not need to hear any more. Darkwood quickly returned to the forest, and laid down to wait for the morning. There was going to be seeds for her to treat tomorrow, and she needed to do it as soon as the ponies finished planting them. Hopefully they were going to be quick about it.
Just as the sun began to rise into the sky, two ponies came out of the house with a small bucket of seeds. Darkwood watched as they planted them, and quietly approached the seed farthest away from them. She quickly drew a small necromancy symbol in the ground, and placed her hooves next to the seed. A thin barrier of red magic surrounded her, and Darkwood quickly acted.
She blasted the excess unicorn magic built up over the year into the seeds, and flinched as the pain came. She held back the scream of pain for as long as possible, before it came out. But the spell around her kept the sound in, so nopony else could hear her cry. Darkwood shut her eyes tightly, before the pain finally ended. She remained still for a few seconds, before her eyes snapped open to see fully grown trees around her. None of them had fruit yet, though, but that was mostly likely due to the magic being distributed over many trees as opposed to the usual one. Darkwood wiped away the necromancy symbol, and sprinted back into the Everfree before anypony could see her.
The next year, Darkwood walked up to the same tree and did the same thing as last year. The timber wolves howled as she did in case the sound-containing spell broke. Blue flowers appeared on all the trees as opposed to nothing, and she returned to the Everfree.
"I will finish supplying the magic tomorrow night."
She then walked towards the cave where the timber wolves were waiting for her.
Darkwood walked quietly through the forest as the moon was tucked behind a cloud in the sky. Darkness was always good as a cover. She reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, and continued on to Sweet Apple Acres. It was interesting to see it from her usual angle after seeing it in a different way recently. She walked up to the tree that she went to every years, and quickly etched out the same necromancy symbol as usual in the dirt.
At least this won't hurt as much since it is less than usual. thought Darkwood as the thin red dome closed over her. That first blast is still going to hurt quite a bit.
She took in a deep breath, before closing her eyes and laying her hoof on the trunk of the tree. The built-up unicorn magic in her quickly rushed out into the tree, and she automatically gritted her teeth in response to the pain.
But oddly enough, she didn't feel any pain at all.
Darkwood's eye flicked open, and she managed to make out a magenta glow surrounding the red dome around her. Her hoof slid off the tree, and she frowned before wiping away the symbol underneath her.
"Twilight." she said, with minimal anger in her voice. "I thought I told you to leave me alone. How did you know I would be coming here?"
"The zap apples." said Twilight, quietly walking over from a tree she had been walking behind. "The way you talked about them and what Applejack said happened earlier."
"It is just a simple magic transfer, Princess." Darkwood turned to face her. "I am used to the pain."
"But you don't need to feel the pain, ever! Why don't you let anypony know about you, Darkwood? We could make everything easier for you!"
"I said it once but I will say it again: nopony needs to know a corpse." she snapped, stamping angrily at the ground.
"But that's not true!" Twilight took a few step towards her. "Darkwood, ponies care about others. They would care about you if they knew, They wouldn't consider you a corpse."
"Then they should consider me a corpse. Tell me Princess, have you ever seen me anything but angry or placid? I do not feel emotions. Corpses do not feel emotions."
"You were happy when you looked at the zap apple trees."
"I was impresses by them in the daylight. I usually see them only under moonlight."
Twilight frowned. "You could see them every day in the sunlight if you wanted to. You could have friends-"
"Friends who will only die in the end!" cried Darkwood. "If I had any, I would just wonder how I could ever get over them leaving!"
"What if you had friends who won't, er, just die off? Like Princess Celestia or Princess Luna."
Darkwood glared at Twilight. "That is just plain ridiculous. Why would the Royal Sisters want to know a corpse?"
"Why do you call yourself a corpse?" asked a new voice, approaching from behind Twilight.
Darkwood froze, and stared at Princess Luna in surprise. The alicorn was looking at the Earth pony in curiosity.
"Princess Luna?" she asked quietly, but with surprise.
"Just because a pony is not alive does not mean that they are dead." said Luna, walking up to Darkwood. "You may not dream, need food or water, need to breathe, an do not age does not mean you are dead. You still have a heart and you still have a voice."
"I use my voice only to explain." said Darkwood quietly, not making eye contact with Luna.
"Then how is it that you can tell a moving story? Twilight told me about you and the timber wolves, along with that of you and Symbe. She was moved so much that she wanted to help you. She knew you felt pain doing the magic transfer, so she prevented it. She knew that you were fearful of losing friends you made, so she asked me to come."
"But I still do not have a heart." she whispered.
"Then why do you still tend to the timber wolves, making sure that they do not attack ponies? In no way are you obligated to remain in control of them, it is your choice out of care for others." Luna smiled. "You care far more deeply than you realize. Not only do you hold back the timber wolves, but you supply the Apple family with their zap apple harvest every year. And you do not even request thanks. You are completely selfless, Darkwood."
"But I was the one who told the timber wolves to get revenge in the first place."
"Wishing revenge on those who killed you is not as unreasonable as you think."
"I killed someone."
"She took away your death against your will. And you did not just immediately instruct the timber wolves to attack other ponies. You just made up for what you did in the past. You've made up for them and more by now, the same way that I have made up for my actions as Nightmare Moon." She paused. "Were you in the forest during the Starswirl Era?"
"I was. I saw your battle." said Darkwood. "Your sister cried for hours after she banished you."
Luna blinked in surprise. "You saw it?"
"I watched from outside. I gave Princess Celestia a flower when she was crying to make her feel better. I tossed it down from the roof."
"Was it a zap apple flower?"
"Um..." she paused to think. "Yes, it was."
Luna smiled. "She still has it, locked in a preserve spell."
"Why would she want to keep something as simple as a flower?"
"It was an act of compassion when she was more depressed and upset than ever."
"So?"
"It means that you sill have all of your emotions, not just the negative ones."
Darkwood's eyes flicked down towards the ground, before she looked back at Luna. "I am still dead."
"I understand that you are here by means of dark magic, though they were not your choice to be used. Although, thousands of years ago there were are more cases of dark magic used on ponies by choice. The spell would last maybe a week a most, before the ponies simply withered away into nothingness, as they were never truly brought back to life.
Darkwood slightly tilted her head in confusion. "Then how is it sustaining me?"
Twilight finally spoke for the first time since Princess Luna had. "You have your own magic within you."
"But I have Symbe's magic in me."
"Yes, but you keep having an excess that your need to remove. That's because your base magic is your own. Symbe used a timber wolf's magic as your core, but the timber wolves' magic came from you. It's just pure luck that Symbe chose to use your magic without even knowing that was yours."
Darkwood frowned. "This is all Symbe's fault? Why I'm still here? Why I can't go away? It's all because she just wanted to practice her necromancy magic?"
Twilight paused for a moment. "Yes."
Darkwood gave a slight nod, before collapsing on the ground and bursting into tears. Twilight blinked in surprise, before vanishing in a flash of magic. Luna sat down next to Darkwood, and remained silent while she cried.
"Is it wrong that I wish I told the timber wolves to kill Symbe?" managed Darkwood through her tears. "Because I could have. They would have pounced on her in a moments noticed had I asked."
"That is a difficult question to answer." said Luna. "But often we can wish that we did one thing as opposed to another."
She nodded in response, just as Twilight reappeared in another flash of light. She and Luna nodded to each other, and Darkwood stood back up.
"Are you going back to the forest?" asked Twilight nervously.
"No." said Darkwood, wiping away her tears. "I do not need to for a few days. The timber wolves will stay in place for a little, but they still have their animal urges. Plus, I still need to make you forget about me."
"Wh-what?" Twilight took a step back from her.
She gave a sad smile. "Twilight Sparkle, as much as I appreciate you introducing me to Princess Luna, and I am assuming also Princess Celestia, I can not let other ponies know about me."
"But why not?"
"If other ponies know about me, then others will also attempt to use necromancy to be like me. It doesn't matter if you try to keep me a secret, other ponies will find out. I can trust the Royal Sisters because they have experience with these sort of problems. But I unfortunately can not let eight others know."
"Eleven."
Darkwood paused. "What do you mean?"
"I told Applejack about you using your magic to help the zap apple trees, and she went to tell her family."
"Why would she do that?"
"There y'all are!" said Applejack walking up to the three ponies. "Guys, Ah found 'em!"
Darkwood glanced over at Twilight, who smiled. "What? They all wanted to see you before you vanished into the Everfree again. Well, I guess before they forget you, now."
"Hey, Darkwood!" said Applejack with a brightly smile. "Ah'm glad you haven't run off yet. Ah just wanted ta thank you fer helping out Sweet Apple Acres for so many years. Ya know, if you hadn't grown the trees so quickly back in the day then mah poor great-grandparents would've probably starved!"
"My pleasure?" said Darkwood, confused on how to respond.
At that point, everypony else showed up (Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkamina, Fluttershy, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, and three other ponies that were most likely Applejack's family members), and Darkwood looked at the older Earth pony with a green coat in surprise.
"It has not been that long?" she asked quietly.
"Hiya, Ms. Darkwood!" said a filly with a yellow coat, running up to her with a smile. "Applejack said that yer the reason why the zap apples grow, an' Ah wanted ta thank ya for doin' that fer us! But if you've been doin' that fer so long, how come you don't look as old as Granny Smith?"
"Magic." Darkwood walked past the filly and up to Granny Smith, who had been looking at her. "Only a fool would walk blindly into the Everfree Forest like that, you know."
"Well, then Ah guess Ah was lucky enough thanks to you, huh?" said Granny Smith with a smile.
"Well... I want to thank you for taking the zap apples on that day. If you had not, then there would be no more apples. The tree died moments after you left."
"Ah'm the one who should be thankin' you! Ah was gonna be a snack for those timber wolves! 'Sides, Ponyville wouldn't exist if ya hadn't grown those trees."
Darkwood nodded, and then walked back over to Twilight. She gave Twilight a sad smile, and she nodded in response.
"Can you tell them while I go get my materials?" asked Darkwood. "I already have a spell that will erase your memories."
"Of course." said Twilight.
Darkwood nodded, before walking off towards the Everfree Forest to grab her necromancy gear.
"Can we throw you a giant goodbye party?" asked Pinkamina. "With all of Ponyville invited?"
"No." said Darkwood. "The spell will only be able to handle so many ponies. Ten ponies and one dragon are stretching it as it is. The more ponies we have to use the spell on, the weaker it becomes."
"Then can we have a party with just all of us? We can have it in the barn!"
"..." she hesitated. "...We can have a party with just the eleven of us."
"Yippee!" she bounced high into the air. "I'd better go get a cake and decorations, pronto!"
She quickly zipped off, and Darkwood couldn't help but smile for a moment.
Darkwood drew the final line in the large necromancy symbol on the ground, and put her stick away in her dirty-white saddlebags. Everypony was sitting on specific areas of the symbol, while she finished preparing it. The party had been very short, as she didn't want to attract other ponies' attention. She nodded to herself, before reaching into the saddlebags to grab the last thing needed for the spell.
"Wait." said Applejack as Darkwood pulled out a jar with a red ember in it. "Ah've got somethin' ta give ya."
"What do you mean?" she asked, gently setting the jar down on the ground.
"A gift, sugarcube. Fer helpin' the zap apple trees ta grow all these years."
"Oh." she nodded slightly. "What is it?"
Applejack walked up to Darkwood, and then took off her hat and placed it on her head. "Here. Yer part of the Apple family, and Ah want you ta have somethin' so ya always know."
Darkwood blinked in surprise. "Thank you."
"Thank you, Darkwood. Without ya, Ponyville wouldn't even exist."
Applejack gave her a hug, which was soon added on by Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and even Granny Smith. Darkwood smiled, but unlike usual, it didn't quickly fade away. She hugged the four of them back, before letting go and taking a step back.
"Thank you." she said, before picking back up the jar. "I will miss all of you."
"We'll miss ya too!" said Apple Bloom. "Even if we don't remember you!"
There was a unanimous nod of agreement from everyone, and Darkwood's smiled maintained.
"Thank you all so much."
With that, she opened the jar and released the ember. It sprung from each candle until they were all lit, and a bright red dome encircled everyone in the room sans her and Princess Luna. Her horn lit up to make sure the spell was maintained safely, and Darkwood caught the ember in jar, shutting it tightly.
"Thank you."
She walked out of the barn with her new hat sitting firmly on her head. A tear slid down her cheek, before being joined by a cascade of more.
