Today, Grand Ruler and Queen Celestia had called a special meeting for the two teams in the throne room. One item was the discussion Sapphire's powers.

So far they know she can change her form, unleashed the Roar of Harmony and has extraordinary magic. Only time would tell how many more abilities she would show and how strong she'll become. Then, the second item was, “The Rainbow Rod?” asked Lightning.

“Yes, Lightning.” replied his mentor.

Everyone remembered the Rainbow Rod. It was formerly Lightning’s standard weapon of choice before he learned to control the uniforce. Then it was passed on and served a key link to helping their majesties. Celestia and Grand Ruler would fuse together to form Grand Celestial Ruler-- The very same cosmic being whom, with the help of everyone’s faith, believing, and harmony, destroyed Titan and revived the fallen worlds into United Equestria.

Since then, their majesties had kept the Rainbow Rod, and broke it in two equal halves. All they would have to do to trigger their fusion was connect the two pieces together.

Their majesties each took out an exact half of the Rainbow Rod, and everyone could see that the pieces were not glowing as brightly with magic as they used to. This meant there was not enough power for the fusion to work, and even if it could, it wouldn't even have the power to swat a fly, let alone battle an enemy.

The reason behind this was because Lightning had used the rod a lot of in the previous war, and then their majesties used it to wipe out Titan and create United Equestria, the rod's mystical properties had be all but exhausted. It was nothing more than an ordinary piece of treasure now.

“And what’s this have to do with us?” asked Rainbow.

"Quite simple, really..." replied Celetsia "Your mission is to replenish its power."

“But how do we do that?” asked Spike. “I thought it took over a millennium for it to absorb all that magic.”

“Only half correct.” said Grand Ruler “It did take that long the first time, but we’ve located a source of energy that may do the trick for us instantly. I myself wasn’t entirely sure until now that it existed, but it does. However, obtaining it involves a great risk at the highest possible magnitude.”

The others were almost too nervous to ask how dangerous and Grand Ruler explained everything.

Being a chosen child of the gods, he was gifted with extraordinary knowledge, though it wasn’t always clear even to him and it only happened once in a great while if he desperately sought an answer for the good of all.

Recently, he had been having dreams, which were actually visions of prophecy and knowledge given to him by the gods.

He explained his vision...

"Thousands of years ago, a race of monks that used to inhabit the planet Esper. They never raised a sword in anger, for they had a power far greater...!

All the enemies they ever faced, the people of Esper used their own powers to absorb the energy and powers of their enemies, rendering them harmless and unable to carry out their treachery. The monks would then store all that harnessed power and keep it ready to use against other foes.

The more enemies they faced, the more the power grew. Other evil forces, when they found out, sought to absorb this power for themselves and began to attack the planet Esper in huge numbers. The monks were finding it more and more difficult to fend off their world. Esper was plunged into a most violent war of chaos and destruction imaginable.

The monks could tell their days were numbered, and in a last ditch effort they had taken the remains of the great power source they had obtained and hid it deep within the mysterious Caverns of Illusion;enchanted caves that made any and all wanderers come to face with illusions of fear drawn from their minds, and the more they would believe in it, the more real the illusion would seem.

The monks had stored the great power in a secret altar somewhere within the depths of the cave. They then placed a powerful force-field around the energy preventing anyone who was not pure in heart from even touching the power. Anyone unworthy trying to lay their hands on the great power, the force-field instantly destroyed them, and whatever power they possessed was added to the great power itself, increasing it's incredibility."

The friends were all amazed!

“Wow! That must be some force.” said Lightning. The mission was beginning to become clear-- seek out the power source and absorb it into the Rainbow Rod to power it up again. “Where are these caverns anyway?” asked Krysta.

“That is where it gets dangerous and risky.” replied Celestia “The caverns are located on the Dark Planet itself, directly beneath the fortress of Chrysalis.”

Chills ran up everyone’s spines, and before any of them could ask how, Grand Ruler explained that according to his vision, "After the war, planet Esper had suffered horrifying damage and destruction, the monks along with their enemies had all been destroyed, and the planet was left as a dark and chaotic world of eeriness, and desolation shrouded in the the most profound darkness. The former Planet Esper became thereafter known as the Dark Planet."

The friends were all once again astonished beyond words.

“As you all know," Grand Ruler said "...I sealed Titan away on that dreary planet for a millennium, and he made it his main base of operations. Fortunately he was never aware of this great power deep within the planet itself.

After was defeated, and again as you know, Chrysalis escaped into space, found her way to the Dark Planet and took over, and it is doubtful that she knows of the existence of the great power as well.”

There was no need to explain further, and their majesties again reminded everyone that this was a volunteer assignment. Lightning stood up quickly “I’m ready!” he said.

"Me too! Me too!" Sapphire added.

Grand Ruler smiled proudly at his student. “Thank you, Lightning.” he said. "You as well Sapphire." Then Krysta agreed to go. Her warping skills would come in real handy for emergency escapes.

“Count me in too.
I’ll go with you.” said Rhymey, and he was a good choice since his sword could pierce through energy itself, and Starla agreed to go too. Her magic would be useful there too, but they all figured they would need one more member, one whom could help them in the darkness. “I know just who.” said Celestia. That’s when her sister appeared. “Princess Luna?” asked Starla . “Yes…” Luna said proudly “As one with the power of darkness, I will be of great help to you all.”

She had a point there, not to mention, even though Chrysalis was by far the only creature on that entire planet, nobody really knew what to expect there.

The final mission layouts were discussed, and it was time to prepare to leave.

Fluttershy was worried about Rhymey leaving, but she knew he had been doing this all his life, and he assured his mare-friend that he would come back safely, and pecked her on the cheek.

Sapphire and the boys thought it was sweet.

After that, Krysta created the necessary portal that would take them to the Dark Planet. The team stood all together with the Rainbow Rod, whole, stowed away in Twilight’s backpack. “Shall we go?” asked Luna. The others nodded, and they leapt through the portal-gate, and headed off into dimensional space.

“Good luck, everyone.” Celestia and Grand Ruler thought at the same time.

“Hey, where’s Spike?” asked Pinkie Pie. The others couldn’t find him and began to wonder if maybe, “Oh, no!”

Across the magic pathway did the team fly, soaring through space...

They emerged on the Dark Planet. Starla, Lightning, Krysta and Rhymey felt very strange to be back after such a long time, but Sapphire and Luna had never seen a more frightful place; the dark and stormy skies, the dark sandy grounds laden with corpses and bones. “Now I see why they call it "The Dark Planet.” Sapphire said, but now was not the time for sightseeing. They had a job to do, and fast before Chrysalis found out they were there.

“We better look for Chrysalis’ fortress. The caverns are supposed to be right beneath It.” said Lightning.

Luna concentrated and sensed through the darkness where the power was located to help them find the fortress easier. “Follow me.” she said, and they all walked off together across the barren wastelands of the planet.

Suddenly, Sapphire began to feel something moving around in her backpack. “What’s wrong?” asked Krysta. “I don’t know...” Sapphire said, and when she took off her backpack and looked inside, were they all surprised when Spike popped his head out of the bag and breathed heavily. “I can’t breathe in there!” he groaned.

“SPIKE?!” the others sneered.

“Forgive me if I sneer,
But what are you doing here?” snapped Rhymey.

Spike admitted that the meeting bored him so he slipped into Sapphire's backpack and fell asleep. “Sorry…” he said.

Sapphire sighed “We’ll talk about this later. We may as well keep going.”

On and on the team went, and the planet seemed to get more eerie and dreary by the minute, and suddenly, “Look, up ahead.” cried Krysta. It was Chrysalis’ fortress, and it didn’t really look too different from when Titan ruled it. The only major differences were the many statues of Chrysalis, and the busts of her head posted all around the walls. “Somebody sure is egotistical.” Spike muttered.

“The caverns are supposed to be beneath It.” said Lightning “Let’s look around, maybe we can find an opening.

Suddenly, Chrysalis’ voiced echoed out “Well, well, what have we here? I see you’ve all finally come to your senses and finally have decided to ultimately surrender to me.”

“Think again, Chrysalis!” snapped Lightning. “We’ll never surrender to an ugly, evil witch like you!”

The ground began to shake and quiver. “I think you’ve made her mad…” whimpered Spike.

That’s when Chrysalis appeared before them snickering wickedly. “You really ought to be careful whom you insult around here.” she hissed “I’m really quite sensitive, you know.”

Lightning and Rhymey clenched their fists, and nodded at one another. “Starfleet Magic!” and they transformed. “Let’s get her!” shouted Lightning, and he and Rhymey dashed forward, but they went right through Chrysalis and fell flat on the ground.

“Huh?!” they both exclaimed, and the others realized it was only a magical illusion. “She’s not really there.” said Twilight, and right then the illusion vanished, and the ground began to quake. “What’s happening?” asked Spike.

“I don’t think I want to know.” cried Krysta. That was when the ground burst wide open and powerful magical forces seemed to grab everyone, except for Sapphire and pull them all into the bowels of the planet. "Guys? Hello?" she called, but she got no response.

Sapphire looked around and saw a small light up ahead of her. "Hmmm.." she followed the light down a tunnel and she came out to a large clearing with a clear sky with some clouds in it and some rocky cliffs and platforms as well as some grassy fields that contained small lakes. "Hello?" she called out. White clouds began to form and they glowed and a ghostly image of lion appeared. It was a male lion with a red mane with orange stripes in it. "Hello Sapphire." he greeted.

"Woah... who are you?" Sapphire asked in awe.

"I am Askari, I was the First leader of the Lion Guard and I also processed what you have now; The Roar of the Elders." Askari explained.

"So that's it's real name." Sapphire gasped.

"Yes, when you use it, the great lions of the Pridelands roar with you." Askari said. "The Roar can be used for great good but it can also lead to terrible evil. The Roar must not be used for evil and I have been watching you use it so far and I'm impressed." Sapphire smiled. "But there is more to the roar than meets the eye." Askari added.

"There is?" Sapphire questioned. Askari nodded and then he broke into a song,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHrV3A-omAk&list=RDhHrV3A-omAk&index=1

(Askari)
Here you stand on the edge of earth and sky
You can command them both, if you try
Look within, you may find even more
As you learn the power of the Roar

Sapphire concentrated and unleashed the Roar and the wind broke the top of a rock pillar. She was amazed and looked at Askari. She ran down the platform and approached a boulder. The boulder started to lift but it landed back down.

The power of the Roar
The power of the Roar
It dwells inside you
And all around you
In ways you've never seen before
The power of the Roar
The power of the Roar
Once you think you've found it all
You'll find there's still much more

Sapphire looked at Askari and listened. She used the Roar once more and this time not only did it lift the boulder up but it tossed it away onto large rock wall! Sapphire grinned happily.

Free yourself from anger and from fear
The control that you seek will be clear
Though the Roar goes far beyond wind and sound
It can impact everything all around

She used the Roar on the grass, making different flowers pop up, including trees. She used it on the water, actually making a water spout. She aimed the Roar beneath her and it make a large rock pillar underneath her. She roared again making two more pillars which she leaped across to get back to the platform.

The power of the Roar
The power of the Roar
It dwells inside you
And all around you
In ways you've never seen before
The power of the Roar
The power of the Roar
Once you think you've found it all
You'll find there's still much more
The power of the Roar

Sapphire smiled at Askari, "Thank you."

Askari smiled proudly. "Keep just the excellent work and you'll discover more powers of the Roar." Sapphire nodded and Askari vanished into the clouds. Sapphire turned around and walked back into the dark tunnel using her horn as a light to guide her.

She suddenly began to hear the sound of Chrysalis snickering. "Chyrsalis! Where are you?!" Sapphire called. She saw her appear down the tunnel and flew after her at a gentle speed before flying through another tunnel, and emerging in a deep hidden crypt.

Sapphire gazed ahead and what she saw made her eyes. It was some sort of ancient shrine with a plateau reached by a stone stairway leading to a giant tomb that seemed to have a protective barrier around it, but also, Chrysalis was there, and all the others were bound by magical chains. “Sapphire!” cried Twilight.

“Help us!” shouted Krysta.

She gasped when suddenly, the prisoners and Chrysalis vanished again. Sapphire was confused at first, but then she remembered illusions.

Suddenly, the entire shrine went dark all except for the light emitting from the barrier around the tomb. Then, the shrine lit up again, and Sapphire saw something that she didn’t see before. Sitting on the stairs was someone who looked exactly like her in every way, except she was darker, and his eyes glowed red. Sapphire moved in closer and this time made sure to use her visor. “It’s real…!” she murmured, and without warning, Dark Sapphire leapt over and tried to kick Sapphire in the chest but she leaped over it.

Dark Sapphire growled at Sapphire as the two circled each other like two Alpha wolves prepared to fight.

The dark Lightning was not willing to give up and soon, it was joined by more evil clones, and evil Starla, Lightning, Luna, Spike, Rhymey, and Krysta.

"More clones?" Sapphire questioned in shock.

When suddenly, a shadowy shining wave came out from nowhere and grabbed Lightning, and he vanished. The evil ones searched all around the shrine, but they had no idea that Lightning was merely invisible-- cloaked in the magic of the real Princess Luna’s shadowy mane.

“Are you alright?” Luna asked.

“It’s really you guys?” asked Sapphire, and the others proved it by saying anagrams of Starfleet; the secret approval only they knew.

Lightning: "Stars"

Starla: “Feral Test”

Luna: “Flat Trees”

Spike: “Treat Self”

Krysta: “Let Faster”

Rhymey: “Stale Fret

Believe me yet?”

“Okay then.” said Sapphire. While the evil ones were still searching for their foes, a lot of the others still didn’t understand who they were or what they were or what was going on. “It must be some kind of test, like a final course before the power.” said Krysta.

“So, we have to beat those clones in order to proceed.” said Starla .

“Easier said than done.” said Spike “I’m starting to wish I had stayed behind.”

“Well we can’t stay here, that much is true.

We may as well go out there and see this through.” said Rhymey.

Princess Luna agreed and came up with a plan “If you can all successfully distract those monsters, I shall make a break for the tomb and attempt to bypass the barrier and open it.”

“I wouldn’t advise that, Princess.” Starla said, and then she suddenly felt everyone gazing at her. “Starla , what’s wrong?” asked Lightning.

“Don’t you remember what Grand Ruler said about the legend of the barrier? It will bring fatal harm, maybe even death to anyone who was ever evil… which may include a former Nightmare Moon.”

Everyone, even Luna just remembered that. “You may be right. That could be possible.” Luna said. She now felt unsure of her initial plan. “Maybe one of us should try and break through the barrier instead.” Krysta suggested “The barrier won’t hurt you guys, since you were never really evil.”

“We better do it.” Lightning said. “All right, get ready to break.”

"Wait..." Sapphire called.

"Sapphire, what is it?" Luna asked.

"... I wanna face the clones... alone." Sapphire replied much to everyone's shock. "What? Sapphire, you can't! They know your every move." Starla stated.

"Not every move." Sapphire said, referring to the Roar of the Elders.

"But Sapphire, your clone will have that ability too." Kyrsta stated.

"No it won't. The Roar cannot be used for evil." Sapphire replied. "I learned that from a friend."

"What friend?" Lightning asked.

"No time for that." Sapphire said. "Princess?"

Luna nodded and she dispelled her invisibility spell, and only Sapphire leapt out into the open. The clones turned to face her, growling and snarling at her. She closed her eyes and the wind started to blow and she heard Askari's voice, "It can impact everything all around." She opened her eyes and her cutie mark started to glow as well as the Elements on her crown.

She used her magic to float the Elements in front of her and she unleashed the Roar of the Elders on the clones. The power of the roar
flowed through the Elements of Harmony and blasted the clones. The magic made their eyes stopped glowing so madly and their bodies suddenly turned into shiny streams of light that swirled round and round near the ceiling and disarmed the barrier round the tomb and opened it wide. Out of the tomb rose a giant clear urn containing the mystical glowing energy. Sapphire stopped the Roar, the Elements returned to her crown and she looked on.

Spike could hardly breathe. “That’s it? Did she do it?”

A small hole in the ground opened up and something floated out of it. It looked like a scepter. It was golden with six gems running down the middle that were the same colors as her Elements of Harmony. "Woah..." Everyone gasped. The Scepter floated over to Sapphire and she took it in her right hand and it gave a mystical glow.

“Take the power and this scepter with you. It is yours, and finally may our duties be fulfilled and may evil perish at the hand of pureness.” The sound of the voices faded away, and everything seemed clear. “Hello?” Krysta called out, but no one answered.

The others decided no longer to think about it, but rather take the energy and leave, but strangely, the energy was beginning to fade out. “What’s going?” asked Spike. “The power, it is being drained away!” cried Luna.

“You’re correct.” hissed a voice. Everyone looked up and saw “CHRYSALIS!” She was standing, over an opening in the ceiling, and she was no illusion. She had been aware of their arrival on the planet for some time, and she was baffled at why they hadn’t come to settle the score with her, she followed them into the caverns and learned all the secrets while keeping in hiding. The mirages didn’t affect her as she was a master of manipulation and knew they were not real from the start, but now that the power was revealed, and free from the barrier that would have blocked her off, she was syphoning it and using it to increase her own power, and stealing more of it every second.

“Starla, give me the rainbow rod, quick!” snapped Lightning, and Starla tossed him the rod backpack. Lightning quickly began to absorb some of the magic. “Oh, no you don’t!” Chrysalis yelled as she prepared to zap Lightning. “Oh, yes we do!” snarled Luna as she fired a blast, forcing Chrysalis to dodge, but the blast had hit the roof so hard, not to mention all the blasts from the battle with the clones were finally taking their toll on the cavern. The whole place was starting to collapse. “We’re going to be buried alive!” cried Krysta.

"Not on my watch." Sapphire used the Roar once more at the wind held up the collapsing cavern, much to everyone's amazement.

Lightning and Chrysalis were still struggling to gather the most of the remaining power and the refused to stop, not even when large rocks began to fall from the ceiling. “Lightning!” cried Starla “Forget the power! We have to go!”

“No, we need it!” shouted Lightning, but Luna grabbed him in her mane, "Sapphire, come on!" Luna called. Sapphire stopped the Roar and the team began to flee for it.

Chrysalis laughed at them “Cowards!” but soon she realized it was best for her to leave with what little power she had gathered.

Luna used her magic of shadow-slipping, to help slip everyone through cracks in the walls and ceiling, finally emerging out of the cave, and outside of Chrysalis’ palace, which was about to collapse any second along with the caves. Now that they were outside again, Krysta quickly formed a portal and they all jumped through just in time as the castle caved in, and the leftover magic that was left in the cave burst with an explosive force so bright…

…it could be seen from afar on United Equestria. Their majesties were very worried too, when suddenly the portal gate appeared and the team fell out of it. “We made it!” cried Lightning.

“Rhymey!” Fluttershy cried as she ran into his arms.

“Oh, my…
…Fluttershy!” he cried as he twirled her around and around.

All the others had gathered and welcomed their friends. Their majesties then asked for some order. “What happened out there?” Grand Ruler asked. “We could feel that force all the way here.”

Luna explained, “Sister, brother-in-law… we are in terrible danger.”

Lightning presented the royal ones with the, now, glowing and enchanted rainbow rod. They had managed to store plenty of energy in it, but told their majesties about Chrysalis, the caves, and just barely escaping with their lives. Everyone was shocked and amazed at Sapphire's part. "No way, you can combine the Roar with your Elements?!" Buddy exclaimed in shock.

Sapphire nodded, "Apparently so."

Nevertheless, This only meant that the final battle was nearly ready to begin, and Chrysalis was bound strike anytime.

Lightning felt very concerned. “Who knows how strong she’ll be with all that power.”

“Oh!” cried Rarity “Of all the worst things that could happen to us, this is THE…WORST…POSSIBLE…THING!”

Everyone gazed at her for an awkward moment, and then began to chatter in worry and concern, until the royal ones ordered them to remain calm. “We all knew this was coming.” Grand Ruler said “And we have since been preparing for it. Correct?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Celestia nodded “So, we’re going to do everything we can to protect our kingdom, and together we will triumph and end this war.”

Everyone soon regained their confidence, especially now that the rainbow rod was restored. With all that, duties were assigned to prepare the kingdom for their fiercest upcoming battles yet to come, but all in all there wasn’t much any of them could do but wait for the first move. "Umm... what's with the new Scepter, Sapphire?" Rainbow asked. And everyone stared at the golden Scepter in Sapphire's hands.

"I got it in the cavern after I passed the test." Sapphire replied. Grand Ruler and Celestia looked at the scepter. "Hmm... this one is new to me." Grand Ruler stated.

"Me as well." Celestia added. The gang looked at each other. Now they had another item in their procession and who knows what powers it holds.

But for now… despite there was a big struggle nearing commencement, everyone thought it best to get a little rest.

While back on Dark Planet…

Chrysalis, having escaped the caverns, didn’t at all feel upset about the loss of her fortress. The power she had just absorbed made her physically stronger and her magic even more immense. “I can feel it! The very power is pulsating in my veins!” she thundered. No one would ever stand in her way again, and she had a good idea of how to actually kill two birds with one stone to begin her ultimate attack! “Prepare yourselves, ponies! Prepare… for the hunt!”