//------------------------------//
// The Sacred Forest 
// Story: When Two Worlds Meet 
// by Darkness 1 
//------------------------------//

	As they all were stepping down the road, they saw the entrance to forest, and went through, and what they all saw amazed them: a beautiful, untouched wild forest, full of life, so warm and sunny. Snowshy was already completely at home being in this forest, she began hopping here and there, giggling, laughing, and catching butterflies and Darkness looked at the trees, and said, "Snowshy, please don't go too far." 
Snowshy said happily, "I won't, don't worry, I'll be careful." 
Darkness said, "Okay, anyways, I don't know if the rest of you can see this, but look at these trees, just by looking the bark on these trees, I tell that this forest has been here for centuries, and it still, after all this time, remains the same way it was, when this forest began to grow, it's really quite something, I can see why they call it the 'Sacred Forest', we should keep in mind the guardians as well, we need to stay on the beaten path." 
Lunar Ebony Blade tapped Darkness on the shoulder, and said, "Darkness, is that what I think it is?" Darkness turned around, to see what Lunar Ebony Blade was pointing at: off the beaten path, just ahead of Darkness and the others, was the strangest thing Darkness had ever seen, it looked like symbols of a moon and a sword, one was on a large stone, then there were two others spread out on the ground, one going to the left, the other to the right. 
Darkness said, "You guys all see this too, right?" Everypony looked where Darkness was looking, and they all confirmed they were seeing the same thing, and Darkness said, "Now, that's weird, it looks awfully like..." 
Lunar Ebony Blade finished Darkness's sentence, and said, "My cutie mark!" 
Darkness looked at Lunar Ebony Blade's cutie mark, and said, "Well, the sword is blurry, until we find your true talent, you only have half of your cutie mark. It's definitely a sword, but what kind, I cannot tell. Although I have a hunch of what it could be..." 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "You're thinking it's the 'Ebony Blade', aren't you?" 
Darkness said, "Like I said, it's a hunch, without any factual proof, it's just a guess right now."
Snowshy stepped beside everypony, she must've been listening for a while, because she said, "I know what Urusel told us, to not go off the beaten path, but I'm getting a strange ominous feeling from those symbols, I didn't feel anything until Lunar Ebony Blade, saw them." 
Darkness said, "Now that you mention it...I'm getting the same feeling, it's weird." Darkness paused for a moment, thought about it for a few minutes, and said, "I know this is probably a bad idea, but I really think we should check this out, however, be on your guard, I don't know what these guardians look like, so they could be anything." Everypony went over to strange symbols, carefully, and slowly, and as Lunar Ebony Blade got closer to the large stone with the symbol on it, it began to glow, a light blue. 
Everypony noticed, and Darkness stopped everypony, except for Lunar Ebony Blade, to stay put, as even Darkness stayed with the others, as Darkness said, "Whatever this is, it is clearly connected to Lunar Ebony Blade, let him handle this." 
Everypony agreed, and Rarity said, "I was going to say something like that." Everypony watched, as Lunar Ebony Blade, stepped up to the stone, and touched it, and it reacted, with the stone turning purple, and the symbol, turned a bright gold, as it all of a sudden it became very bright around the stone, and a heavy gust, emitted all around the stone, as everypony had to hold a hoof up, to block the light from hurting their eyes. 
A little while later, the light faded, and the gust went away, but the symbol, and stone were still glowing, when they all heard, a strong, ominous voice all around them, as it said, "Welcome to the Sacred Forest, travelers, those who come here, and seek what is on the other side of this forest, must first prove themselves worthy to pass through this untouched forest." Nopony said anything, as they intently listened to voice, and after a while, the voice spoke again, and it said, "You must all prove your value, in strength and bravery and your friendships, all of these will be tested."
Darkness was going to speak, but then thought better against it, and beckoned Lunar Ebony Blade to speak, and Lunar Ebony Blade said, "How do we start?" 
The voice said, "The one that bears the symbol, that has awakened me, start with symbol to your left, there, your first test shall start when you enter a tree hollowed out from the inside. Good luck travelers." The stone and symbol stopped glowing, and the voice faded away, and Lunar Ebony Blade went over to the symbol on the left, and stood on it. It reacted, by glowing with the same colors as the stone did, and then, just ahead of them, a giant, earthen door lifted itself up, and opened a pathway, directly in front of the symbol. 
When the door finished opening, the symbol stopped glowing, Darkness said, "Seeing as this all seems to be linked to you somehow, Lunar Ebony Blade, perhaps, you should lead, until we get out of this forest." 
Lunar Ebony Blade said openly, "Okay, but I'm not good at navigation." 
Darkness said, "Looks like it's a one way path, so I don't think we'll get lost." 
As everypony began to set off, Twilight came up to Darkness and whispered, "Darkness, are you sure this is good idea?" 
Darkness said, " Of course, all we can do, is have faith in Lunar Ebony Blade, to guide us, out of here. He bears the cutie mark, after all, have some faith in him, as all do in me, just give him a chance." 
Twilight said, "Yeah, you're right, we should all give him a chance, it's all we can do." 
Fluttershy seemed to have heard, and said, "That's right, it's all we can do." 
Just then, as they all reached the opening where the door was once closed, a strange tree-like being appeared out of thin air, and it had a key, as it gave it to Lunar Ebony Blade, as it said, "The tree is just up ahead, good luck." 
And the being turned in bark chunks, and faded away, as everypony continued down the road. It wasn't long before they came to huge tree, that had a door in it, and Darkness said, "That looks like what we are looking for, hey Lunar Blade, try out that key that tree being gave you, and see if it works." Lunar Ebony Blade, went over to the door, attempted to put in the key, and thankfully it worked, the key melted into the door, and the door opened, to reveal a dark area behind the door.
Darkness said, " Figures, I can't see anything, let's see if I can send some light in there, to see what's in there." Darkness casted a light spell, and sent the light into the area, only to see it get engulfed by the darkness, Darkness said, "Okay...that didn't work as expected, looks like it's an enchanted tree, that absorbs any spells cast on it. We'll have to walk in there, as is, and hope it brightens up in there." 
Everypony went inside the tree, and they heard the door shut itself behind them, and sure enough: the area brightened up, and the ominous voice said, "This is the test of bravery and strength, may you be successful."  As the voice stopped talking and faded away, the area started to split apart, separating them all from each other, and they all thought to themselves the same thing: they might have their own test, that each of them might have to face by themselves, and then, everything went white. 
The test first started with Darkness and all he could see was white all around him, and then a familiar voice said, "Darkness, the one that bears two destinies, and the one chosen by the Gods Of Equestria, this is your test of strength and bravery." 
Darkness called out, and said, "Is that you mother?"
Just then, somepony that looked just like his mother, appeared before him, and said, "I am not your actual mother, I have just chosen a form from your memory, that you are accustomed to." 
Darkness said, "Could've used any other form, instead, you decide to choose somepony whose's..dead." 
The look-alike figure ignored him, and said, "In a few moments, everything you have ever been afraid of, everything that gives you strength, will be put to the test. Be warned, however, if you fail, even you can die, in this realm." 
Darkness said, "I had a feeling I got transported to an inter-dimension, and I understand." 
The figure then created a door, and said, "Once you go through the door, you test will begin, good luck Darkness." 
Darkness said, "Yeah, no pressure then." Darkness then stepped forward, opened the door, and went inside. 
The white faded to reveal, what looked like to be a large, grand city, and Darkness realized where he was: he was in what looked like the slums of the capital of the Sorcerer ponies, and Darkness said, "Of all places, why here? I was never here, well, not technically, I wasn't alive when this city existed, although, I have read about it, through my mother's diary, but that is besides the point. And....it's strangely empty, I don't see anypony walking around, I read these streets were always busy....this is getting weird." Darkness stepped forward, going through the alleyway and streets here and there, till when all of sudden, he was picked up from his hooves, as he was taken to another area. This area, was a clearly the same area, but now there was fire everywhere, and ponies, trotting, in a panic, everywhere, in all directions. Darkness said, "What is going on here?" Just about then, he saw a heavily-armored pegasus, with a look of pure hatred, as the pegasus chased down a small group of sorcerer ponies, and which he trapped then down a dead-end alleyway, and before Darkness could follow, all he could was the screams of ponies, crying out in pain, and fear, and then silence. The pegasus came back out of the alleyway, covered from head to hoof, in blood, panting, and then took off, and Darkness knew what had just happened, and he was beginning to understand what he was supposed to see. Darkness said, "I don't even want to look anymore. I get it, I remember this, when I was just a colt, I didn't know then, how to control my time travel powers, and I ended up in this time, and the time, this city fell, I remember being horrified, and unable to move, not realizing, that I was only seeing what happened long before my time, and that I physically wasn't here, I was here in mind and spirit." Darkness took a deep breath, and said, "I was afraid, for I knew they were sorcerer ponies, it was a bit obvious, as I watched in horror, one after the other, being brutally slaughtered, and cut down, by pegasus, earth, and unicorn ponies. I remember I didn't know what to do, I felt like crying, and then I thought of being anywhere, but here, I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was back in the Everfree Forest. I remember not being able to sleep for days. For the years that followed, the horrifying sights I had seen bothered and haunted me."
Darkness looked up at the sun, and back down, and said, "But now, I'm no longer afraid, if I could interact, I'd fight back, with all I had. Sure, I had other fears then, and I have some new ones now, but that's what makes each pony, a pony, it's part of our nature, and yes, even sorcerer ponies can feel fear, but now, I can face whatever scares me, because I no longer have to face them alone, I will continue this journey, no matter what it takes!" 
Just then, the look-alike mother figure appeared, and said, "Congratulations, you understand and have learned from your fears, but you are only halfway through this test, next, your strength will put to its limits." The figure opened another door, and turned to Darkness, and said, "Good luck." Darkness said nothing, opened the door, and went through it. When he vision cleared, he saw he was standing in front of a massive army of sorcerer ponies, and in the middle of them stood, one wielding a black and crimson red sword, that also had a big fiery eye, inlaid in the middle of the sword and Darkness instantly knew what the sword was, it was the infamous 'Nightmare's Revenge'! 
Darkness then said, "There's only one pony I know of that wields that wicked thing, and that would be.....no way!" He looked back over to figure, it was blurry, so he couldn't make out what he looked like, but the sword could easily be seen, and Darkness said, "This gets stranger by the minute..." Right about then, the figure ordered the army to attack him, and Darkness drew out his katana, and readied himself for battle, as the army, charged at Darkness, all except for the figure wielding the cursed sword. As they drew nearer, Darkness charged at them, and began hacking and slashing, and to his surprise, some kept up with his moves, while others couldn't block his moves fast enough. After what felt like an eternity, Darkness was beginning to wear down, and his moves began to get more slow, and he said to himself, "I can't keep going on like this forever, I need to use magic." As if the figure knew what Darkness thinking, the figure held out the sword, the sword went out of the figure's hooves, floated there, and sent out what looked like a sonic shockwave, and as it went through Darkness, his head began to throb and a sharp pain went through his head. It went away shortly afterward, but when he tried to use his magic, he was unable to.
Darkness said to himself, "Great, now of all times, my magic's being canceled out." Darkness continued to hack and slash, but his moves were slower, due to fatigue, and the sorcerer pony army, one after another, parried his attacks, and at the same time, counterattacked, and because Darkness was getting worn out, he couldn't block most of their attacks. Darkness began to weaken, from all the strikes, and as struggled to keep himself up, he said, "Not...good." He then realized something, and said, "I....cannot....die...HERE!!!! I have my friends counting on me, and I want to continue to be there for them, protecting them, and being there for them, as they have for me. I will not lose, as I think about my friends, they are my strength, they are all I need, and one of my reasons to continue on!" Darkness, renewed, with the thoughts, and memories of his friends, took out the entire army, with an impressive lighting-fast speed, slashes. Darkness head a noise from behind him, turned around, and saw there was another army, and he said, "You have got to be kidding me! Where did they come from?" He charged at them, and took the skies, and when he was high above the army, he folded his wings, and said, "Enough of this!" As he plunged his sword into the ground, causing the earth around Darkness to collapse, swallowing the army. Darkness panted, and turned to face the mysterious figure, and the figure called back the sword, and slashed the air in two directions, and faded away. Darkness said, "What's going on? Is it over?"
Just then, the mother figure appeared before Darkness and said, "You have accomplished the impossible, without the use of your magic, and relied on the strength of your friends. Well done, you have passed your tests." 
Darkness said, "This might be a weird question, but what about my friendship test?" 
The figure said, "That test was a combination of the two, to teach you, that despite all your powers, even sorcerer ponies, need each other, their friends, in their time of need, and for times when they need you as well. You have earned your right to continue on through this forest, you will now be sent back to the tree, where you will wait for friends to complete their tests." 
Darkness said, "I see the lesson here, and I shall wait for my friends. I can't wait to tell them the news!" The figure nodded, and everything went white for a few seconds, and as Darkness's vision cleared, he realized he was back in the tree. He looked around for the others, but could see nopony, and he said, "Looks like I was chosen first, I can only hope the others make it."
Next was Snowshy, and Twilight Sparkle, and when their vision cleared, the looked around and they saw each other, and were happy to see each other. For a while, all they could see was white, and then it cleared out, to what looked like to be the Everfree Forest, with Canterlot beside it. This confused them both, but then, they were separated, as Snowshy was being pushed towards, the forest, while Twilight was being pushed towards Canterlot, and Twilight called out, "Good luck Snowshy!" 
Snowshy replied back, "You too!" and that was all they saw of each other, as they readied themselves for their first test. 
A voice said to both of them, "This is your test of bravery and strength, Snowshy, sibling to Darkness, but you yourself, are a chosen one to bear an element of harmony, and Twilight, the one who bears the element of magic, good luck to you both." The two, nodded their heads, as the voice faded away, as they both continued on forward. As Snowshy went deeper into the forest, she saw something rather familiar, it looked like something she had seen before, and in that instant, she knew what it was: it was her mother's shack! As she trotted towards it, hoping to see her mother, her vision flashed, and cleared, and she saw her mother, on the ground, and a little Darkness was asleep, with dried tears in his eyes. Snowshy knew what this was, and was hoping this wasn't what she thought it was. Moments later, her mother began to breath heavily, and gave birth to Snowshy, as the events of that day, played out before her very eyes once more. 
Snowshy began to tear up, and tried to look away, but somehow, couldn't, she watched in horror, as her mother told her to leave the forest, and was given instructions of what to do, when Snowshy got older. A little Snowshy was then shoved to the edge of the forest by her mother, as her mother tearfully told her to go. Then, at that moment, a crying little Snowshy, began to walk outside of the forest, but tripped, and rolled outside the forest. Snowshy said, "I know what you are trying to show me: this was a day, where I was fearful of what would happen to my big brother, and saddened by the death of my mother. It was one of the worst days of my life, but in the end, I was given a new chance, to have parents, by being adopted, and yes, and although it's not exactly the same, it was still a chance at life, to continue to live, so that one day, I could fulfill my mother's drying wishes, and to find my big brother as well. So despite all that happened on this day, there was hope, just as there is hope for all of us, to complete our mission, to keep Equestria safe from harm, and go home heroes and proud."
The voice said, "Congratulations, but do not celebrate just yet, next, your strength, will put to its limit, good luck." And with that, a door appeared, and Snowshy went to it, opened it, and went inside.
Snowshy found herself, to what looked a lot like the fields that were on the outskirts of Ponyville, and as she got a sense of her surroundings, she realized where she was: this was the fields that everypony that had any magic talent, fought against Darkness Night, with the way the skies looked, and with everypony heading in a general direction, and sending their magic to what looked like those who had elements of harmony. 
She was going to head there, when she heard a familiar voice, that said, "Not so fast Snowshy." 
She turned around, to see Darkness, his sword drawn, and in a battle stance. She asked, "Brother? What are you doing? Don't you recognize me?" 
Darkness scoffed, and said, "How dare you to try and deceive me into thinking that I'm talking to my sister!" 
Snowshy stopped, and thought to herself, "Wait a minute, this isn't my real brother, he would never raise his sword against me. So...what am I supposed to see? Oh...I get it, a test of my strength, by going up against somepony, I would obviously lose to." 
She said to the look-alike Darkness, "Look, I don't want to fight you, whether you're the real Darkness or not." 
The look-alike figure said, "You don't have a choice." And with that, he began to trot towards Snowshy, sword poised to strike. 
Snowshy sighed and said, "I guess I don't now, but all I have, is my element of harmony, it should be enough." 
Snowshy began to fire her power of her element harmony at the figure, which the figure dodged one attack, after the other, with relative ease, and in which case the figure said, "If that's the best you can do, you've already lost."
When the figure jumped up high, to strike a heavy blow, it was in this instant, that Snowshy began to think about a lot of things, and then it hit her, and she said out loud, "Stop! I will not fight you!" The figure was confused, and missed, and ended up stunning itself, with the handle of the sword, and Snowshy went over the figure, helped it up, and said, "Real or not, I understand, I may not have your strength in battle, but my strength lies elsewhere, my compassion to support and help those, that otherwise, cannot deal with things in their lives, on their own anymore, I can show them, that even in the worst and darkest of times, when all seems lost, there is always hope, and things can and will get better, to never give up, no matter how bad things get." 
The figure, brushed itself off, and said, "I see you understand where you true strengths lie, congratulations, you have proven yourself worthy to this forest." 
Snowshy said, "Wait a minute, what about...the friendship test?" 
The figure said, "That test, was included, in these tests, you have proven, that despite how strong you may or may not be, it is better to have friends to be there for you, to help you, when you need it most. You will now, as with Twilight, who has also proven herself, be sent back the tree, where you should wait for the rest of your friends, to complete, and pass their tests." Snowshy said nothing, as everything went blurry and white, and then cleared a few seconds later, as she found herself, alongside Twilight, and back in the tree. Snowshy looked around to see if anypony else had passed their tests, and she saw Darkness, reading some old book. When Darkness felt like somepony was looking at him, he put the book down, marked his page, and turned around, and saw Snowshy and Twilight had returned.
He got up from his seat, and went to greet and congratulate them, and he said, "Well done, you two, I knew you could do it! There's no way you two could fail such a thing!" 
Twilight asked, "What do you mean? Where you thinking we weren't going to pass?" 
Darkness said, "No, I just knew you guys would pass, and besides, I have never doubted you guys, in whatever you do." 
Snowshy said, "Thank you brother." 
Darkness said, "Anytime, well, I suppose, we should wait for the others. Why don't you two join me at the table, and we can talk about what we all learned while we was in that test, does that sound good to you guys?" 
Snowshy said, "Why not, I'm curious to hear what you and Twilight were put up against in your test of strength." And with that, they all went to the table, sat down, and began discussing, how their tests went, as they waited for the others.