When Two Worlds Meet

by Darkness 1

The Search For The Ebony Blade, Part 3

As they all headed inside the cave, it became very dark, and it became impossible to see and Darkness said, " Everypony, hold on a minute." Seconds later, the entire area, was lit up, by Darkness's light magic, and Darkness said, " There we go, much better, alright, let's keep moving."

As they headed deeper into the cave, the entrance behind them, could no longer been seen, and as Rainbow Dash looked behind her and saw she couldn't see the entrance anymore, she began to grow impatient, and said, " Ughhhh....how much father? This cave seems to go on forever!"

Darkness said, " Seeing as there are no maps in the area we are in, your guess is as good as mine, and it doesn't go on forever." Darkness began to smirk and said, "However, I could cast a spell that could do that."

Rainbow Dash shook her head and said, " No, I'm good, let's just get out of this cave."

Applejack said with a smirk, " What's the matter? Afraid the big bad cave with get you?"

Rainbow Dash defensively, " No! I'm not scared, I just don't like cold, damp places, that's all."

Darkness pointed his left hoof out, and said, " There, up ahead, we are almost near the exit." As they neared the exit, their vision turned to white, as their eyesight adjusted to the snowy outside once more, and Darkness said, " Well, if I remember correctly, Anthrox said something about heading towards a road that 'heads downwards', so we should look for that."

Minutes passed, then hours, as they continued down the road, looking for the road that went down, and finally, Lunar Ebony Blade pointed it out, and said, " Hey everypony, isn't that it over there?" Everypony looked where Lunar Ebony Blade was pointing: sure enough, there was a road ahead of them to the right, that steeply went down.

Darkness said, " It sure looks like it, well done Lunar Ebony Blade."

Rarity said jokingly, " Aw, did you just compliment somepony, you just met?"

Darkness looked away, and said, " Perhaps I did, is that wrong?"

Applejack said, " No, it goes to show, you are regaining your original sense of self."

Darkness said, " Perhaps, but I still feel like, I have much more work to do on that. Anyways, I got off subject, let's head to the road on the right." Everypony simply just followed Darkness to the road on the right, and when they reached it, it went steeply down, very steeply down. Darkness said, " Well, it definitely goes down, it's cliff, a steep one, at that."

Twilight said, "Are you sure this is a good idea? It almost feels like a trap."

Snowshy said, " Twilight's right, it does feel that way."

Darkness said, " Trap or not, we must push on, besides, it looks like we can slide down." Darkness went to the edge and looked back and said, " Well, you all coming or what?" And Darkness did something nopony expected, he jumped off the edge and yelled, " Geronimo!"

Everypony just looked at each other in bewilderment, and Rainbow Dash went to the edge and said, " Well, if Darkness think's it's fun, then forget it, I'm going too!" And Rainbow Dash did the same thing Darkness did and yelled out, " Whoopee!"

Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Lunar Ebony Blade, and Snowshy, all jumped off the edge as well, followed by: "Ouch! My Hair! Wheee! Yeehaw! I can't look! Oh Crap! This is fun!"

Twilight sighed, and said, " Ah, what the heck, why not." And she too, went to the edge, and jumped off, as she was screaming in fear. They were all sliding down, rather fast, and down a very long steep hill, from the looks of it, it was kind of hard to tell, when everything looked all blurry. Rainbow Dash looked behind her, and saw the others were having fun, except for Twilight, of course, that was to be expected. Rainbow Dash looked back around, and spotted Darkness, and tried to go faster than him.

Darkness saw Rainbow Dash, coming in from the side, and smirked, and said to himself, " You want to race me huh? Fine then, challenge accepted." He yelled out to Rainbow Dash, " You're on! Last one to reach to gate, is a loser!"

Rainbow Dash yelled back out, " I never lose!"

Darkness said, " We'll see about that!"

The two sped up ahead of each other, one after the other, until finally, they became neck to neck, Rainbow Dash, was hitting speeds so fast, that she could clearly see the sound barrier, was about to break, she could barely move her head, from going so fast, and looked over at Darkness, who smirked at her, and she saw that he was about to break the sound barrier as well. A blur of rainbow colors, and black and red, streaked down the cliff, leaving behind a fiery trail behind them. Darkness began to speed up some more, until he saw the blur of giant gates ahead of him, and they were coming up fast, but Darkness did not stop, he went even faster, Rainbow Dash saw the gates an instant later, and saw that Darkness was pulling ahead, and Snowshy and Lunar Ebony Blade, coming in from her left and right sides, as they clearly must've seen Rainbow Dash and Darkness racing each other, it seemed like Lunar Ebony Blade and Snowshy wanted to race as well.

Rainbow Dash said, " If I'm going to lose, I will not lose to them too, and she sped up with all she had, and so did Lunar Ebony Blade, and Snowshy, and now, there were four fiery trails, lighting up the cliff, going down, as a mixture of all sorts of colors came down in a blur. Darkness was getting closer to the gate now, and he spread his wings out a little, and with a spectacular show of flying skills, he flew upwards, going even faster and in small circles, and then came down, slowing down a little but still causing the entire area, and the gates to shake, as he came down on all fours, at still a very fast speed, and folded his wings, and waited for the others, who were not that far behind. As he watched, he could see Snowshy, Rainbow Dash, and Lunar Ebony Blade, were all tied, their faces, focused on beating the other, Rainbow Dash, gave it all she had, and pulled ahead by a little more than Lunar Ebony Blade, and Snowshy, and made it to the bottom, and slowed down just enough in time, to where Darkness actually dodged out of the way to avoid being collided into, and Rainbow Dash came within inches of running into the gate, before coming to a stop, in which she said, " That was way too close", and she sighed in relief, and began to try and catch her breath. Snowshy pulled ahead of Lunar Ebony Blade, and came to stop, on Darkness's left side, and Lunar Ebony Blade, came to stop, in front of them both.

The others arrived shortly after, except for Twilight, and as the others came to a stop, Rarity asked, " Where's Twilight?" Right about then, they heard a scream of terror, as Twilight came rolling down the cliff, and skidded a bit, and then came to halt in front of them all.

As Twilight got up, and brushed herself off, she said, " We are never doing that again okay?"

Darkness said, " Why not? I had a blast, and from the looks of it, the others had a lot of fun too."

Snowshy said, " Yeah! We ought to do this again some other time! I want to try and beat you down the cliff next time brother!"

Darkness smiled, and said, "You're on for next time then."

Twilight looked down, sighed and said sadly, " Am I the only one who wasn't having fun then?"

Darkness went over to her, and said, " Hey, don't beat yourself up about it, alright? If I may, I want to tell you this: I once thought like you did, overthinking things, always thinking everything would go wrong, but it was all of you, and my sister, that showed me, that there are times in life, that you just have to push your fears aside, and just go for it. If you don't, you'll end up like me, riddled with regrets, and haunted, by all the things, you could've enjoyed, but threw away, just because you thought it may or may not be safe enough. I don't want you to end up like that."

Twilight looked up, and said, " Darkness, that is the first time...I've ever heard you actually saw anything to support any of us, besides your sister. You do care about us, don't you?"

Twilight, at this point, had tears in her eyes, as she spoke, and Darkness replied, " Yes, I do care about my friends, you guys have taught me thing or two, and I don't want you all to suffer, as I have, you all deserve better than that. You all have been around each other, for quite a long time, and you all have a very close friendship with each other, never take that for granted, for some, fate is not so kind to them."

Twilight said, " Are you talking about you? And how you were treated when you tried to befriend the outside world, by trying to go to school?"

Darkness looked down and said, " I am." Darkness then looked back up, and with a smile, he said, " But things are different now, what is past, is past, I have friends now, so I'm not alone anymore." Everypony except Lunar Ebony Blade, came over to Darkness, and hugged him, and then they let him go, and backed away a little. Darkness said, " You guys mean so much to me, it makes me smile, every time, to be around you, to talk to you, to fight alongside you even. You all give me hope, and a strength to carry on, no matter what troubles are put in front of me, I do what I do, for my friends, for my sister, and for my soon-to-be wife."

Snowshy said, " Is that...?"

Darkness finished her sentence, and said, " Yes, that is my reason, this is why I continue to carry on, why I continue this journey with you all, and it is all the reason I need, to see you all safe and sound, when this is all over. I want to celebrate our accomplishments, together."

Rarity stepped forward, and said, " It means a lot to us all to hear you say that."

Snowshy said, with great joy" I knew you would find yourself, sooner or later! But I know, that you still have to find the rest of you, you'll get there."

Darkness said, " I know, but when I do, I want you all to be there, when that day arrives." Darkness then turned around and examined the gate, and said, " Well, it's locked, and it doesn't look like I can break it with anything, and it looks like, any kind of magic, will be repelled,with some of these symbols that are on here, well, the gate's here, but where's.....? Darkness was interrupted, when a large figure, came up above them, and was heading in Darkness's direction. Darkness and the others, quickly got out off the way, as the figure, crashed in front of the gate, creating a large amount of dust. As the dust settled, and everypony got back up, they all looked to see a smaller, but still rather large black dragon, standing in front of them, with a look of disgust.

The dragon said, " Get out of my sight, little ponies, before I change my mind, and destroy you all instead."

Twilight was about to get ready to fight, when Darkness raised up a hoof, and said, " Wait! Let me use what Anthrox gave me." Twilight nodded, relaxed, and backed away.

The dragon said arrogantly, " The purple one has good sense, to back away from a fight she cannot win, I would suggest you do that same."

Darkness stepped forward, " We are here, because we are in search of a legendary sword, have you heard of it? It's called 'The Ebony Blade.' We were directed that this blade, is beyond these gates, somewhere."

The Dragon scoffed, " Oh yeah? And who directed you here? Pony?!"

Darkness only said, " Anthrox did."

The dragon looked shocked for a moment, and then regained his composure, and said, " That's ridiculous! He would never let the likes of you pass, or even direct you here unless..."

Darkness finished the thought, " Yes, you would be right, I killed him, but not before he came to his senses, in his last moments, as he became full of regret for what he put his fellow tribe, through."

The dragon, stunned, sat down, rather hard, and said, " I see....he did, did he? If he did, then you must have what is required, show it to me, then I will know, without a doubt, that you are telling the truth." Darkness took of the sacred stone from his pack,and handed it out to the dragon, who took it, looked at it for a while, and then gave it back to Darkness, and then said, " There is no doubt, that is our tribe's most sacred stone, Anthrox kept it close to him at all times, it was our symbol of pride and honor..... So he really is gone....I have to ask you pony, did he say anything else to you?" D

Darkness said, " He did, he said, that if any of us got the chance, to tell his tribe, to get out of these mountains, a start your lives over. He said that within a couple days, the curse will wear off."

The dragon said, " He...he...he said that? His final wish was for us...to start over? I see....in his last moments...he became himself again.... And he's right about the curse, we all knew, that in order for this tormenting curse to end, the Gods of Equestria, came to us, one day, when we all had just begun to settle in these mountains, and Anthrox was on patrol that day and they told us, that as a final sentence of punishment, that if any of us ever wanted to go back to the outside world, outside these mountains, Anthrox must die, to pay for his crimes. They said Anthrox has lost his way, and has let evil and hatred into his heart. By the time Anthrox came back from patrol, the Gods of Equestria had already disappeared, and all of us that heard, never said a word about the final sentence. And from that day on, we all knew, as long as Anthrox lived, we were never going home, of course, I think Anthrox had his suspicions, that there was more to the curse, than what he already knew. However, its not to say that some of our tribe didn't try, Anthrox was just too strong for any of us, so year after year, day by day, we continued to suffer this curse. Until now, finally after all this time...! I didn't think it could be done!" The dragon got up, and shook Darkness's hoof, and said, "Thank you, pony, you've done us a great service! Oh, my apologies, I'll open the gate for you." The dragon went up to gate, and spoke an ancient tongue of the dragons, and the gate unlocked itself, and the dragon turned back around, and said, " Up ahead, is our main camp, show that stone, to our commander of the troops, and she should let you pass, you don't need to explain anything to her, just tell her that the gatekeeper will explain everything later. She'll let you pass."

Darkness said, " Thank you...uh..what's your name?"

The dragon said, " I'm sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Drake, Drake The III. Nice to meet you all."

Snowshy said, " Good to meet you, Drake The III."

Drake The III said, " I can't wait tell the commander this! But I'll wait till you show her that stone."

Darkness said, " Thank you, we should get going now." Everypony passed through the gates, as Drake The III, happily waved them farewell.

As everypony continued down the road, it wasn't long before they all noticed a large glow in the distance, and Darkness said, " That's got to be the camp, let's head over there." Everypony followed close behind Darkness, as they got closer to the camp, and as they neared the camp, there were two dragons, guarding the gates, that lead into the camp.

The dragons spread out their wings, over the gates, to bar their path, and the dragon on the left said, " Stop right there ponies! The likes of you are not welcome here!"

The dragon on the right said, " Why has the gatekeeper, let you all pass?! What business do you have here?! Speak!"

Snowshy stepped forward, and said, "Please, brave dragons, we come in peace, and we mean no harm, we only want to talk to the commander, the gatekeeper let us pass, because of the item we possess."

Darkness took out the stone, and showed it to the dragons, and both of their faces were stunned, but they didn't say anything, for a while, and then, they withdrew their wings, and the one on the right said, "You may pass, ponies. Go see the commander at once! You will find her, at the end gates of the camp!" The dragons said nothing else, as they opened the gates, and stepped back, and beckoned Darkness and the others to proceed.

As Snowshy passed the dragons, she said, "Thank you."

And the dragons said, "No, need, we should be thanking you." As everypony was inside the camp, the dragons closed the gates, and

Darkness said, "Okay, this camp is way bigger on the inside, than it looked on the outside. I suppose, we should head for the edge of this camp. If I were to guess, it's probably just down there somewhere, I'm pretty sure the gates won't be hard to miss."

Rarity said, "I hope you're right....the dragons in here, don't look too friendly."

Snowshy said, " Just relax Rarity, don't make any sudden moves, and we'll be fine."

Rarity was trotting in place, as she said through panicked breathing, "Easy for you say!"

Rainbow Dash bumped Rarity, and said, "Yeah, Rarity, what Snowshy said, just calm down, and be cool about it."

Snowshy said, "That's not entirely what I said....But I guess it works."

Darkness said, "Hey everypony! We are almost there, and that looks like the commander, the one over to right of the gates, with all that gold armor."

Everypony became quiet, and followed Darkness as they headed for the gates, and as the commander dragon saw them, she flew in a fit of fury, and ran at them, and stopped in front of them, barring their way, and she had four claws wielding four broadswords, and her other four legs, kept her on the ground, and she said, "Ponies! I hate ponies! Why have you all foolishly come here?! And how did you convince the gatekeeper, and the front camp guards to let you through?! You have five seconds to respond, so you better start explaining, and quickly, before I change my mind!"

Darkness beckoned the others to stay, and stepped forward, and said, " We come in peace, at the request of the gatekeepers that let us through, because of what I have."

The commander dragon put down her weapons a little, and said, "All this way, for an item you have? Show it to me, it better be important, or the gatekeepers that let you pass, will pay dearly!"

Darkness said, "I assure you, it's very important." Darkness one more time, dug out the stone from his pack, and gave it to the commander dragon, and the commander dragon took the stone, and examined it for no more than a few seconds, and her face was full of shock, and sadness, at the same time. The commander put away her weapons, and ushered the other dragons in the camp, to stand down, as she sat down, in front of Darkness and the others. As the commander dragon began to tear up, she said, " My name is Urusel, daughter to Anthrox, and as you can tell, commander of the troops. If you don't mind, I wish to keep the stone."

Darkness nodded, and said, "My name is Darkness, and it belongs to your tribe anyways, I was going to say to keep it."

She paused for a moment, and then continued, "Thank you....Ponies, you have done my kind, my tribe, a great service, and we are all indebted to you all, ponies, but I have to ask, because I know he is dead, what did he say, in his last moments? And who killed him?"

Darkness said, "I did, and he said, that in couple days time, you all will free of the curse. What he said, were actually his last wishes for his tribe. He wants you all to leave these mountains, once the curse lifts, and start your lives over."

Urusel said, "It is a shame, he came to his senses, while he was drawing his last breaths, but perhaps, it was meant to be. We all knew what had to be done, besides myself, none of my tribe, stood a chance against him. You must understand, that just because my father turned to evil, I still loved him dearly, as my father." Urusel began to cry, and she said, "I knew what had to be done, I....I Just! I..I Couldn't do it!"

Darkness said, "I understand, trying to kill somepony, like your father, is no easy task, and you shouldn't blame yourself, for you not being able to, it's something you shouldn't have to do."

Urusel said, "You understand what it feels like to try to do something like that, to somepony, you love like that, and then try and kill them? I have to ask, where are you parents Darkness? Do you love your parents as dearly as I did my father?"

Darkness sighed, and said, "Sadly, both of my parents are dead, my father died, fighting for what he believed in, and my mother died, after giving birth to my sister. My sister, is all the family I have left, so in that sense, I understand what you are going through, in the case, if I ever had to fight my sister, I couldn't do it, I would rather die, than raise my sword against my sister."

Urusel said, "I see, I'm sorry for your loss, I've now lost both of my parents too, my mother died, somewhere in these mountains. When she saw how horrible my father had gotten, it broke her heart, and she left while him and I slept, and she took a path, the even we don't take, but it has a snowstorm in the area, that never fades or calms down, none of us, saw her leave. My father figured out where she went, and looked for her, down that path, but was forced to come back to camp. He never found her body, so the snow buried her body. I think it was in that instance, he lost any sanity he had left, and continued to get even more vile, as the years slowly went on by. And well, you know how my father died, you were there."

Darkness said, "I'm sorry for your loss as well, but don't let their deaths bring you down, let their deaths give you and your tribe strength, you all still have each other, find hope in that, and start over in your new life, that your father, in a sense, has given to you all, by his sacrifice."

Urusel stood up and said, "You're right, I shouldn't let their deaths bring me down, let their sacrifices give me strength..." She went over to them all, and hugged them all, and tearfully said, "Thank you all ponies. Thank you.." And she let them down, and she said, "Hold on a minute, I'll open the gate, but first I must address my tribe."

Darkness said, "It's fine, do what you need to do." Urusel gave an order of attention, and all the dragons within camp, came forward, and all sat down, behind Darkness and the others.

Urusel stood on top a large crate, and said, "My fellow dragons, and tribe, a new age begins for us in a couple days time." She then pointed to Darkness and the others, and said, "These brave ponies, have defeated and killed, my father....Anthrox. Anthrox told them, that in a couple days, the curse will lift from us." She paused for second, and said, in a strong tone, "But we should not let his death, give us sorrow, because we all knew what had to be done. In his final moments, he told these ponies, his final wishes for us, as a tribe. He wants us to leave these mountains, and start our lives back over, in our ancestral home. As a tribe, my fellow Dragons, after everything we have been through, we are more than that: we are all family, we have looked out after each other, since when we were all younger, and we should continue to be that way. After all, all we have is each other in the end, the age of the dragon god is officially over, and our new lives, will begin soon." Every dragon, stood up, and cheered Urusel on, and then they quieted down, and Urusel raised a claw, and she said, "As of this moment, I think that there should be a lord of our tribe, what do you all think?" Not a single one disagreed, and they voted for Urusel, and Urusel nodded in respect, and said, "Then as of this moment, I am declaring myself 'dragon lord' of the black dragon tribe family!" She raised the stone in the air, and said, "Let this be proof of my lordship! And when my time comes to step down, a successor, will be chosen, be it my own offspring, or another dragon within the tribe." The other dragons agreed to this, and Urusel said, "Then it's settled, all of you! Find all gatekeepers, that are not guarding the camp, to return at once! After that, prepare for our departure, from these mountains, in a couple days time, get our supplies, shelters, and anything else we have, get them all packed, and ready to go." Every dragon began to scatter, some took to skies, to inform the gatekeepers to return to camp, while the rest, began packing everything.

Darkness said, "Look at them, it's like the life in them, has come back."

Urusel looked at them all, and said, "It's only because of all of your brave efforts, that this would be possible. Finally...after all these long years....I get to go home...at last. Father, rest in peace. I'll handle things, may you find peace in your next life." As she finished, she went over to the gate, spoke the ancient language of the dragons, and the gates opened, and Urusel turned back to Darkness and the others, and said, "Be careful, ponies, beyond this camp, is an ancient, and untouched wild forest, it is known as 'The Sacred Forest." The guardians, in that forest, will not hesitate to attack you, should you go off the beaten path. I would assume, that you seek what is beyond that ancient forest, we were told, by my father, that at one time, ages long ago, a family known as 'The Lunar Blade Family', once had a massive kingdom, beyond the ancient forest. Father also told us, that after all these years later, only one 'true', Lunar Blade, of the family remains, and he/she, is the heir to the throne, and worthy to wield and carry a legendary blade of power of the moon, the "Ebony Blade.' At least that's what my father told us all."

Darkness said, "I see, that's why Lunar Ebony Blade's old piece of parchment said to, 'follow the path of moonlight, and the true heir, shall realize his true destiny.' It makes perfect sense."

Urusel gasped, and said, "If that parchment said that, uh, where is this 'Lunar Ebony Blade', you just spoke of?"

Darkness ushered Lunar Ebony Blade forward, and said, "He's here, we found him, in another world, and he felt like me and my friends, had something to do with his true talent, which he doesn't know what is though."

Urusel said, "He sure sounds like the one, the only way to find out, is to reach the Ebony Blade, and if he is the one, his true talent, with come to life, before his very eyes. If he isn't the one, well, he forfeits his life, as the sword will kill him."

Darkness said, "Meaning?"

Urusel said, "Meaning if he is not the true descendant of the 'Lunar Blade Family," He will not be able to get near or touch the sword, without dying in a matter of seconds."

Darkness said, "I had to ask..."

Urusel said, "I have to get going, I must get my tribe ready for our departure, and good luck, ponies, you might need it."

Darkness said, "Thank you, so everypony ready?" When everypony nodded their heads, Darkness said, "Alright, on we go to the Sacred Forest!" Everypony then followed Darkness, as they left the camp, and began to head down the path that lead to the forest.