//------------------------------// // Episode 36: Part 1: The Scepter of Harmony // Story: Sarah's Adventure's in Equestria // by Zipp Storm //------------------------------// Ah, another lovely day in Ponyville. It's been a few weeks since I discovered AXL and the events of Starlight Glimmer. Now AXL was a part of the family. Shimmer Glow liked him a lot and he liked her. AXL would follow her everywhere she went and nudged her away when she was getting too close to something dangerous. He was kinda like a robotic bodyguard/ guardian for Shimmer and I didn't mind at all. Anything, I think I'll go and see what Ren and the others are doing at the home-ship. I leaped out of bed and made my way through Ponyville. I was getting near the home-ship's location when my element began glowing. "Huh? What's going on?" I let out a beam of magic on the ground which ran down a path to the left of me. "Should I follow it?" My element necklace detatched itself from my neck and floated above the glowing path. "Guess that's a yes." I trailed my floating element deep into the forest until the path ended at the clearing and my element was floating in the center. I looked around and saw nothing in the clearing except trees to the side. "Okay... what did my element bring me out here for?" I didn't see any... Wait? what's that? There's something sticking up from the ground, faintly. I went over and saw something blue and shiny peering out of the ground. I started digging and as I removed more dirt the blue shiny object turned out to be a jewel! "Woah." I grabbed the jewel and pulled it out... along with a mount and a staff. The jewel was part of a scepter! "Woah..." I gasped. I cleaned off the dirt from the scepter and the jewel shined brightly. My element returned to my neck and I stood up. "Wonder what this is? Maybe Twilight knows." I said. Better go to the home-ship and ask my friends. Wonder how they're going to react? Aaaaannnd they reacted with shock and amazement. As soon I walked in and showed everyone the scepter I found, they were surprised and shocked. "So you just found this scepter in the ground?" Jamie asked. "Yes, my element lead me to it." I replied. Twilight examined the scepter. "I've never seen a scepter like this one." She then scanned through a book on magical items. "And there's nothing about it in this book of magical items." "That's because it wasn't recorded in any book." a majestic voice came and that when the Tree of Harmony's spirit appeared. "Astral Twilight?" Spike said. "What do you mean?" "The magical item Sarah has found is called the Scepter of Harmony." Astral Twilight said. "Scepter of Harmony? What the hell does that mean?" Jack inquired. "The Scepter of Harmony is a powerful scepter made centuries ago. It can channel the magic light and harmony in all forms." Astral Twilight explained. "The magic of light and harmony?" Ren added. Astral Twilight nodded. "Centuries ago, a powerful group of alicorns created the scepter and feared that if it fell into the wrong hands It could be used for great evil. So they hid it away until the day came that someone would be worthy enough to wield the scepter and it's many powers." "So what powers does the scepter have?" Jamie asked, as he was taking notes. Just then my horn glowed and the jewel of the scepter. A colorful orb came out of my horn then floated into the jewel of the scepter and it glowed in all of the colors and then stopped. A moment of silence passed. "What the hell just happened?!" Jack exclaimed. "It took some of newbie's Magic!" Astral Twilight chuckled. "It's suppose to do that." "HUH?!" We all exclaimed. "To unlock the scepters' powers. It had to absorb the magic of light and harmony and since Sarah represents all five elements of harmony in one, she was the perfect chose." "So now the scepter's magic is unlocked?" Twilight asked. Astral Twilight nodded. "Cool! So what powers does it have? Make her invisible? Make were intangible. Ooh maybe make her into a tasty treat!" Pinkie chattered. The rest of us sweat dropped at her babbling. "I don't know much about the scepter but some ancient friends of mine do." Astral Twilight said. Before any of us could say anything else, Astral Twilight teleported all of us, except Twilight and the girls to a brand new and very colorful realm. There were lots of trees below us as we floated in the air, thanks to Astral Twilight's magic. "Where the hell are we ?" Jack asked. "You're in Vallestrella." Astral Twilight said. "A magical realm full of many creatures. This is where we'll find the sun birds." Astral Twilight floated away and dragged us along and we floated to a remote island in the snake of Sunbird. We entered the cave and saw a large opened. "Quita Moz, Hool, Quapa." Astral Twilight called and four winged serpent like dragons appeared before us. Lama is a female magenta-colored Sunbird who's over five hundred years old. Her body is serpentine with yellow-feathered wings. Her crest and tail are yellow with red tips, inside of which are purple spots and a border similar to Quita Moz's. Her eyes are also cyan. Hool is a female purple-colored Sunbird. She is the longest of the Sunbirds seen. Her feathers are all pink, though the crest and tail feathers have a gradient. Qapa is a male cyan-colored Sunbird. He has a stout serpentine body with orange-colored wings. Unlike the others, his crest feathers are square instead of pointed, and his neck feathers extend towards his crest, giving him the appearance of a neck frill. His crest and tail are orange with a blue rim and orange dot. He has brown eyes. And Quita Moz was red with blue feathers. "Woah..." my friends gasped. "Ah Tree of Harmony, good to see you old friend." Quita Moz said. "Aha, a I see you have the Scepter of Harmony. It's been a while since I've seen it." "Yeah.. I just found it." I replied. "I want to know more about it and it's magic." "Well you've come to the right place. We know all about the scepters." Lama replied. "Wait... scepters?" Jamie asked. "Yes, the Scepter of Harmony is not the only scepter existing. There is also the Scepter of Chaos. It is just as powerful as the Scepter of Harmony." Quita Moz claimed. "And what's the difference?" Mason asked. "We'll explain through a song!" Quita Moz stated. Music started playing and the sunbirds began singing. (Quita Moz) You must closely As our story unfurls It's a tale of two scepters And their place in the world (Lama) One has the power to blacken the skies Destroy all that's good right before your very eyes (Quita Moz) The other can best it with magic supreme Extinguish the evil as it were just a bad dream (Hool and Qapa) A very, very bad dream (Quita Moz) It's a duel that is eternal, a never ending fight (Lama) It's good versus evil, it's harmony vs chaos (Qapa) You must make sure you're ready You must prepare and train (Hool) At the clash of the scepters, only one will remain (All) Only one will remain (Quita Moz) The Scepter of Chaos causes darkness and confusion It's Dark fire blast is no optical illusion (Lama) The Scepter of Harmony it can blaze and envision Showing things from a distance With impressive precision (Hool) So make good decisions (All) It's a duel that is eternal, a never ending fight (Hool) It's good versus evil (Lama) It's harmony vs chaos (Qapa) You must make sure you're ready You must prepare and train (Quita Moz) At the clash of the scepters Only one will remain (All) Only one will remain (Qapa) It's a dangerous game (Hool) But one you must win (Lama) So get out your power (Quita Moz) And let us begin "Woah.. that Scepter of Chaos sounds like bad news." Ren said, worried. "It is, but if the item should be awaken, Sapphire can defeat it, by learning all the powers of her scepter." Quita Moz reassured. "You're scepter has many powers that you have yet to discover. So let us discover them together shall we?" Lama said. "We'll start with farsight." Hool said. "Farsight?" I asked. "Yes, it allows you to see someome far away, just by concentrating on their name." "Cool." "Give it a try." "Alright." I pointed my scepter out and concentrated on my dad's name. The jewel glowed and showed an image of my dad, working in his lab, as usual. "Awesome!" Mason said. "Nice newbie." Jack added. The Sunbirds were impressed. "Excellent Sarah." Quita Moz said. "You shall continue your training with the Tree of Harmony and we will keep in touch." Hool said. I nodded. Just then... "Meow." Huh? What was that? "Meow?" "Is that a kitten meowing?" Ren asked. I followed the sound of the meow and pulled away a bush revealing a little kitten with wings. It looked like a jagur. It had pink fur with light purple spots. It's wings had three shades of purple. Dark purple at the top, lighter purple in between and the lightest shade was at the end. "Awww." I picked up the little kitten. Kaede and Carrie cooed at it. "What is it?" Carrie asked. "That is called a Jaguin. A Protector of Avalor and a trusted companion indeed." Quita Moz said. "But where's the mom and dad?" I asked. Quita Moz gave a sad sigh. That can't be good. "This little one's parents died in battle." Everyone gasped softly. Oh man, she lost her parents and she was still so young. "Me and the other Sunbirds found her and have taken care of her since that tragic day." Lama said. The jagiun cub looked and me and meowed sweetly. "Maybe... I could take care of her now." Everyone looked at me with bewildered looks. "Sarah, are you sure? You already have enough babies as it is." Kaede said concerned. "I can handle one more baby. Beside, I have you guys to help me." I replied. "She does have a point." Jamie added. The little jaguin pawed at my face. "Hehe, alright Sarah, you can have her." Hool stated. "Thank you." I replied. "Gather around everyone. I'll take us home." Astral Twilight said. We all gathered around her. "Bye Quita Moz. Bey everyone." I said. The Sunbirds waved back to us with their wings and we were all teleported back to Ponyville.... which was a wreck?! "Woah! What the heck?!" Ren exclaimed. The buildings were damaged greatly and there were smoke in some areas. "What the hell happened here?" Jack asked. "Princess Sarah! Princess Sarah!" A voice called. We looked and saw a familiar unicorn royal guard rushing towards us. "Crystal Gem, what happened here?" "Out of nowhere, these dark, shadow, animal creatures came in and took everyone away and wrecked Ponyville and Canterlot. They kidnapped the Princesses as well!" Crystal exclaimed. "The Princesses!" Ren exclaimed. "If they kidnapped them... that means!" Ren rushed away from us towards the home-ship. "Girls?" he called. The living area was ransacked as well. The couch was flipped there were holes in the wall and signs of a struggle. "Oh man, they got the girls too!" Kaede exclaimed. "Dammit.... friggin great!" Jack growled. "Now what?" Our dragons suddenly appeared and tackled us, relived. "Guys, what happened?" Mason asked. "These black shadows came and snatched the girls. We tried to stop them, but we were outnumbered." Storm replied. "It's okay." I reassured. "Now we have to find them." "How are we gonna do that? They could have taken them anywhere in Equestria." Mason pointed out. "Remember, the Sunbirds said I can see anyone by concentrating on their name." I replied, holding my scepter. "Oh right. It's farsight ability." Carrie exclaimed. "Alright." I pointed my scepter out and concentrated on Twilight's name. My scepter glowed and showed an image of Twilight tied up in a dark area. It had rock spires and cages in it as well. "What the- Where the hell is that place?" Jack asked. "That looks like Tartarus." I replied. "Where the Princesses keep all the most dangerous creatures and villains in Equestria." Then we all heard laughter and saw Chrysalis, Tirek, Starlight and Claw come before Twilight. The image widened and we all saw the ponies of Ponyville, the Mane 6, their families and the Princesses of Equestria. "Oh crap!" Ren exclaimed. "Hehehe, excellent. With all the ponies of Ponyville and Canterlot under our control, we'll conquer Equestria forever! HAHAHA!" Chrysalis laughed. We all gasped in horror. "You'll never get away with this. Sarah and our friends will stop all of you." Twilight snarled. "Those measly humans can't stop us. They don't have any magic." Tirek said. "Except for that Hybrid of theirs. We'll have to destroy her first." "Right." Claw turned to the his renegade changelings. "All of you, go and capture that human hybrid and bring her to us." "Yes sir." they replied and they all flew out of Tartarus. The images then stopped and I held my head for a minute. "Ugh..." "Easy, Sarah." Ren cooed. "Not good. Now they're after Sarah and they have our friends captured. What are we gonna do?" Kodi asked. "We have to get to Tartarus somehow and rescue them, while keeping Sarah from being captured as well." Mason said. "But we don't even know where Tartarus is or how to get there." Carrie said. "I do." Crystal said. "The Princesses told me the way to get to Tartarus. It at the far side of Equestria." "Okay, Crystal led the way." I said. "You guys ready?" "Hell yeah!" Jack said. "Count me in!" Ren added. "I'm with you." Mason added. "Eh... I guess we're in too." Rantaro said, speaking for him and Nicole. "I-I help too." Jamie said. "Then, let's move!" We all mounted out dragons and flew out of the home-ship with Crystal Gem on Snowflake with me and she started to lead us towards Tartarus. To be Continued...