//------------------------------//
// The Sacred Forest, Part 2 
// Story: When Two Worlds Meet 
// by Darkness 1 
//------------------------------//

	Next were Lunar Ebony Blade, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, and as their vision cleared, they all looked around, and saw each other, and Applejack said, "Well looks like we get to face this 'test thingy', together, which if you ask me, isn't a bad thing, it might make things easier." 
Nopony said anything, as they looked ahead of them, and saw a combination, of what looked like Canterlot High School, Cloudsdale, and Manehattan, all of them intertwined into each other, and Rainbow Dash said, "Why do I get the feeling, that we will be tested, as we all go through a darn maze?" 
Applejack said, "Look, I really don't care for it much either, it looks confusing in there." 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "By choice or not, that's where we are going." 
Rainbow Dash said, "You know, I'd have to agree with him." 
Applejack said, "Me too." Everypony then headed for the strange maze and saw there were three openings, each one color-coated to each one of them, with Lunar Ebony Blade, in the middle path, Applejack on the left, and Rainbow Dash on the right. 
Applejack said, "Looks like this where we split up. Good luck y'all in there!" 
Rainbow Dash said, "Don't think I'll need it." Lunar Ebony Blade said nothing, and went into the opening, that had his coat's color, and the others did the same. As Lunar Ebony Blade cleared the opening, a door came out from the ground, and closed the opening behind him, and he stopped and heard that somewhere nearby, that the others had been closed within the maze as well,  and he continued forward. As he went further, he went left, the right, then right again, until the maze shifted direction, to make a straight path to what looked like a graveyard up ahead. 
Lunar Ebony Blade only said, "I think I'm going the right way. Oh well, I'll get there eventually."
As he entered the graveyard. the maze closed behind him once more, by shifting the direction of the path behind him, and he said, "This maze is weird, I'll be glad when I get out of this mess." Suddenly, a light shone on a gravestone, just ahead of him, and he went to it, and read the words on the stone, and it said: 'Here lies Lunar Ebony Blade, the one only destined to fail at his destiny.' Lunar Ebony Blade sighed, and said, "I get it, I know what this is trying to teach me, I'm concerned that I might not succeed, but I know better. Despite what challenges lie ahead, I will accomplish my goals, as I claim what is hopefully mine." 
The light faded, the gravestone crumbled, and a voice said, "I see you understand, that you cannot falter here, congrats, you have passed your first test, next, your strength will put to its absolute limits, good luck." And with that, the ground caved in from beneath Lunar Ebony Blade, as he fell in, seeing only white once more. When his vision cleared, he found himself, within a large a forest, that he was sure of, when suddenly, something that was engulfed in flame, came rushing towards him, and created a huge flame circle around Lunar Ebony Blade, as the entire forest around him was in flames, allowing no escape for Lunar Ebony Blade, and then the fiery figure landed in front of him. He could clearly see the figure clearly through the flames, a massive warrior pony, wearing a fiery orange and black armor, from head to hoof, wielding a black-looking short sword. 
The figure said, "So, you must be the last Lunar Blade, correct? If you truly are from the Lunar Blade family, you will be able to defeat me with ease. However, it seems you are not armed, fine, I will give you a sword, take this."
The warrior tossed a silver short sword to Lunar Ebony Blade, who caught it, and the warrior said, "Now, come! Defend and prove yourself, that you are how you say you are, do not hold back, if you wish to live!" And with that, the warrior's flames, grew even bigger around him, as he charged at Lunar Ebony Blade, with a thundering pace, as Lunar Ebony Blade readied himself, and raised his blade. The warrior laughed, and as their blades clashed, they were both pushed back, and the warrior said, "Hmm, not bad, but you only blocked my weakest attack, now for the my full strength! Die impostor!" Lunar Ebony Blade didn't wait for the warrior to get to him this time, and rushed at the warrior, sword ready to strike. The warrior seemed amused, as the blades clashed one after the other, and as the warrior began to stab or slash Lunar Ebony Blade every time he left himself open, Lunar Ebony Blade could feel himself weakening, and he knew could not keep this up forever, and he began to give it all he had. The warrior laughed hysterically, and could no longer hold his blade, dropped it, and began to lay on the ground laughing uncontrollably, and the flames had been extinguished. Lunar Ebony Blade saw his opportunity to strike, and trotting as fast he could, raised his sword, jumped as high as he could, and just at that time, the warrior began to roll around, exposing his underbelly, Lunar Ebony Blade, thrust his sword down, as hard as he could, screaming a war cry and his face full of rage. As the warrior heard the war cry, and looked around, it was too late to roll away, as Lunar Ebony Blade's sword, was buried into the warrior's underbelly. The warrior screamed in pain, and began to weaken, and said, "Well done, few would've thought of that, only one of the Lunar Blade family would scream a cry like that.... Now, finish me off, DO IT!" 
Lunar Ebony Blade lowered his sword, and said, "The battle is over, you lost, I'll let you live, and let you wonder around in shame, being utterly defeated by your greatest weakness: your arrogance. I only exploited your foolishness. I have friends that have taught me many things, I may not have been in this world for long, but my friends have taught me, that yeah, it is cool to fight yourself, but why fight alone? When you have a better chance, of fighting alongside those you care for and love. Fighting alone, and being victorious all the time, can make ponies like you, arrogant. A true warrior celebrates his or her victories, but also learns from defeat as well." 
The warrior nodded, picked himself up, and said, "You are indeed a Lunar Blade, strong, but honorable, there is no doubt you are who you say you are." The warrior took a heavy breath, and said, "Congratulations, you have passed all your tests, you are now free to pass through this forest. Wait for your friends, as they have their own trails to pass, and as for your friendship test, it was in this test too, and you proved what it means to you, to have friends and what they mean, and what you can learn. Don't stop learning from them, it's not always battle lessons. Good luck, as you continue your journey from here, farewell." Lunar Ebony Blade's vision went white again, and he felt the sword melt away and his vision cleared moments later, as he saw he was back in the tree, and saw Darkness, Snowshy, and Twilight, at the table, in deep conversation, and then he felt a tap on his right and left shoulders, and looked to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack. 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "I take it you guys passed?" 
Rainbow Dash smiled, and said, "You bet we did! As if there was any doubt! I got to say though, it wasn't much of maze, it all for looks, perhaps to try to dampen our spirits." 
Applejack said, "Well, it didn't work, we faced our tests head-on anyways. Let's go tell the others, what we went through, and see what they think." 
Rainbow Dash said, "I can't wait to hear what cool stuff they had to go through!" Lunar Ebony Blade said nothing, as the three joined the others at the table, as greetings and congratulations were passed around, and then they began to talk of what they went through, as they waited on the last three, to pass their trials.
Rarity's vision finally began to clear, and she saw that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, were with her as well, and Rarity said, "Does this mean, we all face our tests together? I am okay with that, as long as Pinkie Pie keeps herself under control." 
Pinkie Pie said questioningly, "What's that supposed to mean?" 
Rarity said, "Never mind." 
Fluttershy said, "Don't you think that was kind of...mean, Rarity? That's just Pinkie Pie, being herself, is there anything wrong with that?" 
Rarity said, "No, I suppose not, I'm sorry Pinkie Pie." 
Pinkie Pie said happily, "It's okay, everypony gets like you do, every now and then!" 
Rarity said, "Yeah, I suppose so, but it still doesn't make it right.. We better get going." They all began to walk, towards what looked like Rarity's boutique store in Ponyville. 
As they continued heading towards it, Fluttershy said, "Rarity, doesn't that...look like your store? 
Rarity said after a few moments of looking at it, "Yeah, now that you mention it, it awfully does look my store." 
Pinkie Pie said, "Why is our test-thingys leading us here?" 
Rarity said, "I really have no idea, but I'm sure we will find out." As they got to store, they opened the door, a giant whirlwind, burst out of the store, as it swept up Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy,  and carried them away, as the store itself, sucked Rarity inside the store, and the door slammed shut behind her. Rarity went to the door, tried to open it, but it would not budge, and Rarity sat down, and said, "I really do hope, that the others are all right.." Meanwhile, the whirlwind began to die down, as it began to lower Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and then dropped them off in separate locations, and as they recovered, Pinkie Pie went into what looked like Sugar Cube Corner, and Fluttershy went into what looked like her cottage. Meanwhile, back at Rarity's look-alike store, Rarity said, "I can only hope, that the whirlwind died down, and they are back on the ground, and why is it dark in here? Where is it? Ah! There it is!" Rarity turned on the lights to the store, only to see that is was empty, and Rarity said, "Okay....that's weird."
A voice said, "Look familiar?" 
Rarity said, "Yeah it does, but why is it empty?" 
The voice said, "Look up at the stage, your greatest fears will come to life, this is your first test, good luck." The voice faded, and the stage lights came on, and the stage curtains opened, as the spotlight moved to the center of the stage, as Rarity recognized the first thing that was displayed. The voice then said, "Do you remember this?" Rarity nodded, and the area around Rarity changed, as she found herself, in an empty area, and the voice said, "Now, you will live the life, that did not happen, but will happen now, you have no store, no friends, nothing, and you have no cutie mark either." Just then Rarity's cutie mark disappeared, and Rarity began to panic. 
She then calmed herself down, and said, "No, no way! I know the truth! I have a store, more than one now, in fact, I have my friends, and it is because of the sonic rainboom that day, that the rock split in half, revealing what I was missing from my clothing." 
The voice said, "How about, if that rainboom never happened?" 
The scene around Rarity again, to reveal a younger Rainbow Dash, failing to perform the sonic rainboom, and Rarity said, "It doesn't matter what you try to do, to try and convince me otherwise, what has happened, has already happened, there is no changing the past, and even you if could change the past, you more than likely, would never exist either." 
The scene changed back to normal, and Rarity's cutie mark reappeared, and the voice said, "You have a strong faith and strength with your friends, always keep the truth close to you, and in your mind. Congratulations, you have passed your first test. Your strength, in a few moments, will be tested, let's see if you succeed." Rarity's vision went white, and cleared within a few seconds, as she found herself, in the Cloudsdale arena, and she herself, had wings. From overhead, she saw a rainbow streak fly her way, and land in front of her. 
It was what looked like Rainbow Dash, and the look-alike Rainbow Dash said, "What are the likes of you 'fancy ponies' doing here? Did you use magic, like last time, to get wings?" 
Rarity said, "I-I-I don't know. What's going on? And Rainbow Dash, it's me, Rarity! Your friend, don't you know who I am?" 
The figure scoffed and said, "Yeah, I know who you are, but I don't associate myself, with 'fancy ponies'. Now take this lance, and we will settle this, right now!" The figure trotted to the other end of the arena, and said, "Ready? One........Two......Three.....CHARGE!!!" 
The figure was coming at Rarity full speed, and Rarity began to ready her lance, when she realized something very important, and dropped her lance, and held her hooves out, and said, "WAIIITTT!!! Please, listen to me!" 
The figure stopped, and said, "What are you doing? Defend yourself!" 
Rarity said, "Look, Rainbow Dash, whatever I did, that upset you so much, I am sorry. As my friend, you may not consider me one anymore, but I will never stop, considering you my friend, Rainbow Dash, you are one of my closest friends, along with Twilight and the others! I would never stop being friends with you all. So please, Rainbow Dash, forgive me?" 
The figure began to cry a little, wiped it's tears away. dropped the lance, and said, "You now understand, that your strength, too, also is with your friends. And don't worry, you did nothing wrong. Congratulations, Rarity you have passed all your tests, you are free to pass through this forest, wait for the rest of friends, and your friendship test was within this last one as well. Good luck to you and the rest of your friends, as you continue this journey, farewell." Rarity's vision, was once more full of white, and cleared moments later, to reveal, that she was back in the tree. She also saw Darkness, Snowshy, Twilight, Applejack, Lunar Ebony Blade, and Rainbow Dash, all at the table, in deep conversation. 
She felt like somepony was looking at her, and she looked over to her right and to her left, and she saw Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, and Rarity said, "So, we all passed, huh?" 
Pinkie Pie said, "Of course! It may have not have been easy, but I learned a thing or two!" 
Fluttershy said, "Me too."
Darkness looked over, and saw Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie standing there, and he motioned everypony's attention, and said, "Is this everypony?" Everypony checked, and they all nodded, and Rarity and the others, joined them at the table, and Darkness said, "Good, very good, I just want to make sure we are not forgetting anypony." 
Twilight said, "Nope, we are all here." Darkness said, "Well, we should keep going, we've come to far now, to fail. Lunar Ebony Blade, if you would, please, lead the way." Lunar Ebony Blade nodded, and left the table, and went outside the tree, as everypony followed him, as Lunar Ebony Blade went to the symbol and the ground, to the right this time, as stepped on top of it, as everypony had stopped little ways away from Lunar Ebony Blade. 
The symbol reacted, and a voice said, "You have all proven yourselves worthy, to pass through this forest, well done travelers, now when it reaches midnight, follow the path of moonlight, it will guide you though the true path out of this forest, may the gods watch over you all, farewell." As the voice faded away, symbols appeared all over the trees, and any hidden guardians, simply faded away, the sacred forest was now safe. 
Darkness said, "Now it makes sense, what that parchment that Lunar Ebony Blade has, it all has to do with this. If you were not part of the Lunar Blade family, I doubt, we would've got this far. But anyways, in about thirty minutes, it will be midnight." 
Snowshy said, "How do you know?" 
Darkness said, "I've watched Luna when she raises and lowers the moon, every time, when it reaches midnight, the moon will be in the center of the stars, and from the looks of it, it's almost there, it takes the moon every thirty minutes to move a bit." 
Snowshy said, "Oh, okay." 
Darkness said, "Sorry, I know, it's hard to explain, but I know it's close, I just know it." 
Twilight said, "We trust you Darkness, it's okay."
Thirty passed by, and sure enough, the moon was now in the center of the stars, and as everypony looked at the ground, a moonlit path appeared, and turned to the left, and Darkness said, "I knew it, I knew I was right, although I was a little worried there for a second." 
Twilight said, "You shouldn't, believe in yourself a little more." 
Darkness said, "Yeah, I'll work on it. Lead on, Lunar Ebony Blade." Lunar Ebony Blade lead everypony, as they all followed the moonlit path, as they went left, left again, then right, then left again, then right again, and then they came to long road, to a clearing up ahead. 
Rarity said, "From the looks of it, I say we found the exit." Nopony said anything, as they all followed Lunar Ebony Blade to the end of the road, and went through the clearing. They all found themselves out of the sacred forest, and in a gray, and lifeless open plain. 
Darkness said, puzzled, "I don't get it, this is it? Where's the Ebony Blade?" 
Snowshy said, "It might've been stolen." 
Darkness said, "How unlikely that might be, it's still a possibility. No, this can't be it, Lunar Ebony Blade, we should keep going, maybe we are not seeing something here." Lunar Ebony Blade nodded, and continued forward, as everypony followed behind him. 
Rarity said, "I don't see any kingdom, or rubble for that matter." 
Darkness said, "You're right, I don't either, not even sand. What happened here? Hold on, everpony, wait a minute." Everypony stopped, as Darkness picked up the dirt, and then let it go, as the wind carried it away, and he saw embers within it. Darkness said, "Whatever happened here, it turned everything to ash, that's why there's no rubble. Whatever caused this, it was immensely powerful to turn a kingdom, to ash. Alright, we can continue Lunar Ebony Blade." They all continued forward, and just then, to gigantic statues holding gigantic halberds, cracked the ground and landed in front of Lunar Ebony Blade and the others.
Nopony said anything as the statue on the right said, "Just a little beyond this point, lies what's left of the sacred castle, of the Lunar Blade family. From this point, only the one, that is a descendant of the Lunar Blade family, can pass." 
Lunar Ebony Blade turned around, and said, "Will you guys be fine here?" 
Twilight answered, "We'll be alright, we came all this way for this anyways." 
Rarity said, "Yeah! So go on, dear, we'll be okay, after all, this is for you." 
Lunar Ebony Blade turned back around and faced the statues, and said, "I am the last descendant of the Lunar Blade family, let me pass." 
The statue on the left said, "Come forth, and look into my eyes." Lunar Ebony Blade did so, as the statue bent down and looked deep into his eyes, and after a few moments, the statue raised itself back up, and the two statues moved to the sides, and the statue on the left said, "You may pass, now prove yourself to the blade." As Lunar Ebony Blade went past the statues, they barred the path once more, while everypony else waited there. Meanwhile, Lunar Ebony Blade, went down the moonlit path, and he saw that even the castle, was now nothing more than ash, but something was in the middle of what would've been the castle, just up ahead of him a little. As he got closer to it, he saw the it was the Ebony Blade: a slightly curved short sword that looked like the color of onyx, with the edges of the blade, a dark purple, and also with a pointed edge also extending out on the other side of the sword. From what Lunar Ebony Blade could see, all but the handle, was in a transparent, but rather large light blue crystal. Lunar Ebony Blade went over to the sword, got up on the crystal, and stood, behind the blade, as he took hold of the handle of the sword and began to try and pull it out.
The sword then began to turn a bright purple, and purple lighting came from it, and engulfed Lunar Ebony Blade, as he screamed in pain, but he did not let go of the sword, he continued to pull. Little by little, the sword was beginning to get pulled out from the crystal, the more Lunar Ebony Blade pulled on the sword, the more he was engulfed in the purple lightning. Finally, with one last massive pull, Lunar Ebony Blade, pulled the sword out from the crystal, and the lighting no longer hurt, in fact, he felt fine, better than fine, he felt....powerful! 
Suddenly, Lunar Ebony Blade's eyes turned purple, and his body was engulfed in a purple aura as well, as he heard a voice in his head tell him: "Go forth, wield me in all your battles, for I have chosen you as my master, and I give full control over the sword." In that moment, he understood where the voice was coming from, the sword had a mind of its own! He looked at himself, and he realized he was now wearing onyx black, and purple armor, on his body, and he had gauntlets to match the armor, but no helmet. He didn't mind that though, he rather not have a helmet, and then he began to test out the sword, by performing different moves, slashes. cuts, and thrusts. When he had finished, he raised the sword high into the air, as the sword shot purple lightning into the air, and then pointed the sword in front of him, as he shot a enormous blast of purple lightning, and as he did this, purple lightning, surrounded his body, and began to spark everywhere. 
Meanwhile, the others were still in front of the statues, and they began to purple flashes in the distance, and then they saw the purple lightning shoot up into the air, and Darkness said, "He did it...wait a minute, what's that? Oh boy...everypony, get out of the way!" Everypony and the statues saw the lightning heading in their direction, and everypony except Darkness, was able to get out of the way, who wasn't able to get out the lightning's path quick enough, and Darkness said, "Oh crap, here we go.."
In that moment, Darkness was hit with the lightning, as it took Darkness off his hooves, and took him with the direction the lightning was going: backwards, and all anypony could hear from Darkness before he was out of sight and earshot was "Arghhhh!!!!" The statues stayed out of the way, as Lunar Ebony Blade was making his way back to them, and as he got to them, he realized he had a sheath, on his right side, and put the sword away, and the aura, purple lighting, the armor, faded away, and his eyes returned to normal. 
Rainbow Dash said, "That.....was.....AWESOME! It so worth coming all this way!" 
Twilight said, "Congratulations, Lunar Ebony Blade, how do feel, are you okay? You was kind of..engulfed,,in what looked like.." 
Lunar Ebony Blade finished her sentence, and said, "Purple lightning, yeah, I feel fine, better than fine. And this sword...it just feels natural to me." Lunar Ebony Blade looked around and said, "Hey, where did Darkness go? Did he leave already?" 
Rarity said, "Oh yeah, about that....Well, you see..." 
She was interrupted, as a slightly smoking Darkness came walking back to them, and stopped in front of them all, and said in a grumpy tone, "Let's just say, I was hit by that sword's purple lightning as it came this way, and yeah, it flipping hurt! A little smoky, but otherwise, I'm fine." 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "I am sorry about that, I guess I got carried away." 
Darkness shot him a look, sighed, and then said, "Yeah, well, next time, don't aim it, in the direction of any us, I may of only just got maybe a scratch or two from that, but if that hits one of the others, more than likely, they'll be ash." 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind, I'll be more careful." 
Snowshy said, "Are you sure you're okay Darkness? That looked like it hurt." 
Darkness swept his shoulders off, and said, "I'll be fine, if anything, it took me by surprise, by its sheer force and power, that was quite something. Still, never again! Once was enough." 
Everypony laughed, and Darkness said, "After what just happened, Lunar Ebony Blade, I think it's time, you get taught properly, how to use a sword." 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "What do you have in mind?" 
Darkness said, "First, everypony, move away from this area, I will teach you. You will face up against me." 
Twilight said, "Are you sure?" 
Darkness said, "There's nopony better than me, to do so, my talent, with sword, is part of my cutie mark, after all." 
Rarity said, "He has a point." 
Twilight said, "You're right, okay, we'll all move behind you two, and stay about thirty feet away." 
Darkness nodded, and said, "That'll work." Darkness and Lunar Ebony Blade waited for others, to get out of the way, and away from harm, as they all stood away from the two, and watched, as Darkness said, "Okay, first off, don't use that purple-lighting thing, your sword does alright?" 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "I don't even really know, how I used it, or how I did it." 
Darkness said, "With your sword, I can guess, as long, as you're not channeling, your energy or your rage, through it, and not actually aiming at anything, it will not activate. Now! Ready yourself!" Both Darkness and Lunar Ebony Blade got into a fighting stance, as Darkness said, "Okay, good, first thing's first, you need to be in a stance, that you can get full use of your body's sense of motion, and your sword, of course, with every sword is different, some are heavy, and some are light, while others are balanced. From I can tell, your sword, is a rather heavy one, so you want to put yourself, in a stance, that gets a lot of use, from your hooves, your current stance right now, would get you killed, and you wouldn't be able to effectively use the sword you are carrying now. Try positioning your hooves a little more apart, but keep a lot of your weight on them." 
Lunar Ebony Blade moved his hooves just a little more apart, and said, "How's this? Is this better?" 
Darkness said, "Much better, good. You have the basics of a battle stance down, your a quick-study at this, and a bit of a natural. Alright, let's start, with basic moves first. Whenever you are facing one, two or more enemies at a time, different moves, and attacks, are needed, I will teach you, some basic ones, to start with, and later on, your own, you may find moves, and attacks, that you may discover later on. Alright, attack me!" Lunar Ebony Blade, began to charge at Darkness, and sluggishly, tried to stab and swing at Darkness, who simply dodged, and swung back, hitting Lunar Ebony Blade's sword, and pushing him back quite a ways, as Lunar Ebony Blade, skidded to a stop, and dug a little ways into the ground. Darkness said, "With those moves, I could've easily killed you. In a real fight, the enemy, would not have pushed you back like that, they would've went in for the killing blow, you left yourself far too open, and your moves were way too slow. Try again, but this time, remember the stance, and swing your sword, harder, and faster, and charge at me quicker. You must not let the enemy, figure out your moves, or will lose, you must give your enemy, no time to think, and give them no mercy. Do not think of me, as Darkness, imagine me, as one of your enemies, understand?"
Lunar Ebony Blade nodded, and Darkness said, "Alright, come at me!" Lunar Ebony Blade charged, this time much quicker, and began using swift, but brutal attacks, as Darkness dodged some, and blocked others, and then struck Lunar Ebony Blade's sword again, and pushed him back, as Darkness said, "That's much better, against anypony else, you would've stood a chance, and possibly won, but I've been doing this a lot longer, and as you continue to practice you will get better, for now, anyways, you will do fine. Next, we will practice, blocking, and what you can do with a block, depending on the situation. I will attack you, and I want you, to instantly think of any way that you can block my attack, and use it to your advantage. Are you ready?" 
Lunar Ebony Blade readied himself, and said, "Yeah." 
Darkness said, "Very good, then, here I come!" Darkness rushed over to Lunar Ebony Blade, and began to attack him, as Lunar Ebony Blade, did his best to block the attacks, and actually shoved Darkness back a little, as Darkness said, "Very good! Very good indeed! You already have a natural ability at blocking, and in the same moment, you used the momentum, of your sword, and drove away your attacker, giving you time for recovery and for you to strike back, you may not have drove me back very far, but against somepony else, it would be enough, and more than likely, much farther. You have this down, let us move on. Next, we will practice advanced techniques, that you can use, when the odds are against you, or are in a bad situation. We will be using both blocking, attacking, dodging, and how to get around your enemy, to hit or figure out his or her weak points. So before we start, I will attack, you block, and try to figure out a way, you can drive me back, and counter-attack, by either getting around me, or attack head-on. Do not hesitate, the enemy will not wait for you, understood? Now, are you ready?" 
Lunar Ebony Blade said, "Yes." 
Darkness said, "Alright, here we go!" Darkness once more, rushed at Lunar Ebony Blade, and began to attack, but a little more relentless this time, as Lunar Ebony Blade, blocked some of the attacks, and dodged some of the others, and drove Darkness back. In that instant, Lunar Ebony Blade, moved to back of Darkness, and began to attack, where Darkness turned around quickly, blocked all of Lunar Ebony Blade's attacks, and sent him back quite a ways once more. As Darkness raised up a hoof, and said, "Stop, that is enough. Well done, Lunar Ebony Blade, you got the basics down, and that's all that really needs to be taught, the rest, is unique to each sword fighter. That is all I can teach you, the rest, is for you to discover." 
Both lowered their swords, and stood as they normally would, and Lunar Ebony Blade said, "Thanks for the lessons." 
Darkness said, "It was a pleasure, and you needed it anyways, now, you should be able to more effectively use your sword now." Darkness waved everypony over, and as they all got to Darkness and Lunar Ebony Blade, Darkness said, "I just remembered something."
Twilight said, "What's that?" 
Darkness said, "It all makes sense now, this sword, is where the 'Forbidden Spell, 'Power Lighting', came from!" 
Snowshy said, "I think I follow, but how do you know?" 
Darkness said, with a little excitement, "In my mother's diary, she wrote down, all the history she knew, plus, those four elder sorcerer ponies are in that book too. Well, while reading somewhere in there, I was reading nursery rhymes that sorcerer pony fillies and colts, were told, and there was one that caught my attention, and I think it went something like this: 'Long ago, a hero, went to a land far away. To a land far from the reaches of explored land, to save a kingdom, from the evil it had within. The hero managed to save the kingdom, with a sword of power, in his grasp. A sword embedded with a power gem inside. Thus the kingdom was safe from harm once more.' As I read that rhyme, I never really understood that one until now." 
Applejack said, "I don't think I get it either, what did you figure out, Darkness?" 
Darkness explained, "That rhyme, is referring to the Ebony Blade, and the 'land far way', is referring to the Lunar Blade kingdom. I had always thought this entire thing was nothing more than something to put little ponies to sleep, but I would've never imagined that there is more truth to this fable, than meets the eye." 
Snowshy said, "Okay, so what about the 'power gem', that the rhyme mentions? I've never heard anything like that before." 
Darkness said, "Well, that too, I thought was nothing more than a legend, but if I remember correctly, these 'gems', are immensely powerful, and were made by the Gods Of Equestria, a final gift, during the times of the ancient ones, the ancient ones left them, where they were made, not knowing what to do with them. Apparently, there were eight gems, each one, contained a different property, and each one had a different name. Some have been destroyed, by the great war against the sorcerer ponies, I think at least six of them, were demolished, but I read that at least two of these 'gems', still exist, one was called 'the gem of power', the source of the power lightning. And the other is 'the gem of fire'. The only thing about the gem of fire, is it was said, that is was taken, by somepony other than the ancient ones or the sorcerer ponies, and was thrust into the earth, and as it came into contact with the core of this world, it made the core, instead of rock, into molten lava, and thus has been lost. So, in other words, Lunar Ebony Blade now carries, the only gem left in existence now."
Twilight said, "Wow...I had no idea such powerful items existed." 
Darkness said, "Neither did I, I had brushed all this off, as all mere nonsense, and fables. But the truth, is right before my eyes, I was wrong the whole time, this whole fable really does exist." 
Snowshy said, "This kingdom looks really old Darkness, do think...maybe?" 
Darkness said, "I know what you're thinking Snowshy, no I don't think any of this happened during the time of the sorcerer ponies, or the ancient ones, for that matter. No, whenever this happened, it must've been sometime after the fall of the sorcerer ponies, however, when that was, I can't tell, everything's ash, if some of the architecture or maybe a book or two had survived, I might've been able to see what era it was first around." 
Snowshy said, "Okay." Just then, Darkness's head throbbed once more, and he was in massive pain all over, the made him kneel, and he passed out, as everypony could only watch in horror. 
Darkness then heard the familiar voice again, as it said, "Fool! hahahahaha! Because of all the time you've wasted here, my preparations are almost complete, my army, shall be coming to this time, in a few hours time, everything will be crushed or kneel before me! And you will have a distant front row seat, as you watch me tear your world and your friends apart! And oh, because of your efforts, in the Crystal Empire, I forgot to mention, you helped me realize, just how weak that mirror is, to be able to sucked from my grasp, and thrown into another dimension so easily, and for you to just carry back. No, I realized I need something bigger, something that can't be moved, like....like the PORTAL SUMMON SPELL!!!! YES!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! I'M A GENIUS! AND YOU CANNOT STOP ME IN TIME!!!  I SHALL USE IT.....HOW ABOUT....RIGHT IN FRONT OF PONYVILLE! HAHAHA!" 
The voice faded away, as Darkness began to come to, picked himself up, and saw everypony looking at him with worry, and Snowshy said, "It happened again, what did you hear? 
Darkness said, "We need to get back to Ponyville fast, and I'll tell you, on the way."