Twilight and Rage were walking down a street towards Rarity's "So…what do you think you'll do when Sombra is defeated?" Twilight asks.
"I'll have to return to Mobius." Rage answers. "This all a fluke because I was acting a fool. I don't belong here."
"Don't say that!" Twilight scoffs "Yeah you're not from here but you seem to get along just fine! Weren't you saying just a while ago how much you enjoyed our company?"
Rage sighed a heavy and sad sigh. "I do but I have my duties. I can't turn my back on those I swore to protect. I made a promise to people on Mobius and I won't break it. I am what stands against the Darkness on Mobius. Much like you and your friends here light the way for Equestria."
"Your allegories need work." Twilight says looking displeased as they made it to the door of a clothing boutique. "Here we are. Rarity's Boutique!"
Rage looked at the dress on display in the window. "A tailor?" He asks as Twilight knocks.
"That's a crude way of putting it." Twilight says "Though not entirely inaccurate." She agrees as a white unicorn with a vibrant purple mane opens the door.
"Oh Twilight! To what do I owe the visit?" She asks looking at Twilight then to Rage. "And who is this?"
"Good afternoon Rarity." Twilight says as Rarity invites them in.
"Come in." She says "We haven't talked in ages."
The white unicorn led the two to the middle of the room where some chairs were and they all took seats. "So Twilight, how are you today darling?"
"I am well." She says "I wanted you to meet Burning Rage here." The purple unicorn says.
"Well the pleasure is all mine." Rarity says. "I'm Rarity, it's so wonderful to meet you, Burning Rage!"
"It's nice to meet you too." Rage answers "but please, you can call me Rage."
"Rage is joining us on our expedition into the Crystal Kingdom against Sombra." Twilight says.
Rarity looked a bit surprised and then looked at Rage, then back to Twilight. Then she leans in. "Can you excuse us for a minute Rage?" She asks before grabbing Twilight and pulling her to the side.
"Oh…uh sure." Rage awkwardly managed to say as Rarity drug the purple unicorn off out of the room and around the corner into a fitting room.
"Rarity, what is this about?" Twilight whispers
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Rarity asks in a disdainful tone. "You remember when we first fought Sombra! We can't just have some random pony tagging along! It's dangerous!"
"It wasn't my idea!" Twilight barks in a hushed tone. "It was Princess Celestia's. He can't go home until Sombra is gone!"
"The princess?" Rarity asks in surprise.
"Look Rarity there is a lot to this that even I don't understand but Princess Celestia has her reasons! I trust her." Twilight says. "Besides, he's a good pony."
"Everything okay?" Rage calls out in a concerned tone.
"Everything is fine, be back in a minute!" Rarity calls back. "If you trust him then I'll trust you…" she whispers back to Twilight "But you know I worry about quick put this on." She whispers handing a dress to Twilight
"Hold on." Twilight objects as Rarity walked back down the hall. "Sorry about that." She apologized to Rage.
He looked at her with some concern. "All good?" He asks and she nods, sitting down as Twilight comes around the corner and out of the dressing room in a blue dress.
"So?" Twilight asks "How do I look?"
"You look absolutely gorgeous darling!" Rarity exclaims looking at Rage. "What do you think?" She asks.
Rage jolted up when Rarity asked. He wasn't expecting a question like that. They wanted his opinion? He hardly knew them! A few beads of sweat formed on his face. He didn't know how to say it without it coming off as weird. "Uh…you…look…" Rage stammered, unable to form a full sentence.
"Awe he loves it so much he's speechless." Rarity chuckles. Rage just nodded and Twilight's face reddened a bit. "It is a bit long though." She comments seeing where the front of the dress was dragging. "Why don't you go and change." She says.
Twilight nodded and went back to the changing room. Rage sighed a sigh of relief. Rarity had saved him from a very difficult and awkward position. It took him a second to realize she was giving him a stone cold glare.
"Uh..." Rage looked back at her awkwardly.
"So...where are you from?" she asks.
"I'm...from a very far away land." Rage says. "I sorta wound up here when a magic spell went awry?"
"So you're into magic like Twilight? I can see why she took a liking to you..." Rarity nods, walking around Rage looking him up and down. "You sure don't seem like the scholarly type though..."
"What do I look like then?" Rage asks curiously.
"You're far too bold. Your mane screams thrill seeker." she says "Though...you also have this...mysterious air about you..." she says "Tell me, have you met Princess Celestia?"
"I have." Rage nods. "Twilight took me to meet her yesterday...it was...an experience for sure."
"Indeed." Rarity chuckles. "You have a very similar air about you. Calm yet powerful."
"You can tell all of that by looking at me?" Rage asks, tilting his head.
"Of course! When it comes to making an outfit for a pony it's all about sizing them up!" Rarity says with a haughty tone. "Afterall not everypony fits every dress or every shirt!"
"Right." Rage nods "You're a clothing designer I take it?"
"One of the best!" Rarity chuckles walking over to a drawer and grabbing a measuring tape, pad of paper and pencil. She then walked over to Rage and and wrapped the tape around his neck.
"Uh..." Rage stiffened up some. "Rarity?"
"Relax. I am just measuring you darling." She says writing down the number. "You never know after all."
Rage remained stiff until she removed the tape measure from his neck then he relaxed as she went to the upper parts of his front legs. "Huh." she comments "You're certainly well toned for someone so into books like Twilight." she says jotting down some more notes.
"Thanks?" Rage thanked her in a more questioning tone unsure if that was a jab at his physique or a compliment outright.
"Not a lot of stallions are so..defined." Rarity chuckles "It's a compliment."
"Right..." Rage says as she moved on to his midsection.
"So, how are you liking Ponyville?" Rarity asks.
"It's nice." Rage responds as she once again removes the measuring tape. "Quiet, small and peaceful."
"That's most of Equestria." Rarity chuckles "Besides the Everfree Forest...and I guess the Crystal Empire for the time being. Which is unfortunate. It really is a beautiful place." She then puts the tape measure down as Twilight came out of the dressing room with the dress in a magical hold.
"Thank you Rarity." Twilight says handing it to the white unicorn. "It means a lot!"
"Of course darling!" Rarity says waving a hoof. "It was my pleasure. You two will have to come back soon. I'll have a little something, something for your friend Rage there next time." She called as the two walked out the door.
"So…are we going to visit any other friends?" Rage asks, looking at the late afternoon sun. The sky had a golden yellow tone to it and the cool evening air was beginning to set in.
"That's up to you." Twilight says "I don't want to push you to do something uncomfortable. I am heading to Fluttershy's either way. However if you're burned out I understand meeting so many ponies like you have today is exhausting."
"It's alright." Rage says forcing a smile "I am fine."
Twilight looked skeptically at him but ended up giving him a nod. "Alright." She says.
The two went to the other side of town along the border of a thick wall of trees. As the two walked along the path Rage found himself looking into the shadows of the trees.
He could have sworn he saw something in there. He looked within the shadows. He focused. Zoned out to everything besides what was in there.
It took Twilight a second to realize he had stopped. She eventually turned around and saw him glaring deep into the thicket of the Everfree Forest. She walked back over and nudged him.
The unicorn suddenly snapped back to reality. He shook his head vigorously and looked at Twilight. "Huh?!" He exclaims "S-sorry…I thought something was…"
"It's okay." Twilight sighs in relief "The Everfree Forest is a strange place. It has that effect on ponies. It's best if you avoid it. It's dangerous."
Rage nods "Right…" he says as they walked further down the path. 'There is an ancient darkness hiding in that place…' he thought to himself looking back briefly.
"I should probably warn you." Twilight's voice breaks Rage's thoughts and he looks at her. "The pony we're going to see, Fluttershy, she is a little…" the purple unicorn paused to think of the right words to use. "Skittish, and upsets easily." She says. "Don't take anything too personally okay?"
"Right…" Rage nods. He looked forward again to hear a choir of birds chirping. It was a beautiful sound. Almost mesmerizing even. "What is that?" He asks softly.
"Oh that must be Fluttershy's birds!" Twilight cheers. "You're in for a treat." She tells him as they come into view of a small house. In the front a yellow pegasus was humming in a soft tone in front of a small flock of birds all perched on a line.
The song finished as the two walked up. "That was lovely Fluttershy!" Twilight announces causing the yellow pgasus to shoot around with a soft smile.
"Oh…uh thank you Twilight." She says in a soft and timid tone. She looked around Twilight and sunk back some.
"Fluttershy I wanted to introduce you to my new friend, Burning Rage." Twilight says with a smile.
"N-nice to uh meet you…" the Pegasus says softly, shaking a little.
"It's nice to meet you too." Rage says to her then to the birds who hadn't flown off. "That was a beautiful song!" he says not only to Fluttershy but the flock still perched on the rung.
A large blue bird tweeted happily and Rage chuckled. "Sounds like she agrees." He comments.
Fluttershy looked a little less frightened and more curious at him "You…understand her?" Fluttershy asks.
"I mean…I can't quite say what it is they're saying but I know it was a compliment." Rage says. "Something about your skills with leading them?"
Fluttershy smiled and looked to the birds. "You really think that?" She asks and the flock tweets in happy tones at her question. "You're all too kind." She says. "Why don't we call it a day everyone?" She suggests "See you all tomorrow?" to that the birds happily tweet and fly off.
"A lot of the birds don't do well around strangers." Fluttershy says "It's nice to meet you, Burning Rage."
"Please, call me Rage." The crimson unicorn replied with a smile. "I am glad to meet another of Twilight's friends."
"What brings you here though?" Fluttershy asks.
"That's right." Twilight gasps as she reached into a pouch she had on her and pulled a small linen sack out. "Applejack asked me to give this to you."
"Oh! The leftover apple seeds! Thank you Twilight! The birds will love this! They always like the sweet taste of the apple seeds." Fluttershy smiles taking the small sack.
The two began to talk and Rage spaced off again. What was it about that dark feeling he felt in the Everfree Forest that enticed him so much? He'd been around darkness before and even though he was still a fledgling Chaos Guardian he had faced some powerful dark beings. But that was in his normal form. He had no idea how he'd use his powers like this.
He paused his thoughts there. He had just realized he never told Twilight or Princess Celestia that! He couldn't tell them now could he? If he did who knows what would happen. 'I'll have to figure it out…otherwise I'm screwed…' he whispers softly.
"Rage?" Twilight's voice breaks through to him once again and he looks at her. She sighs and looks over to Fluttershy. "Sorry Flutters I should probably get Rage homr he's got to be exhausted after today." She says.
"Oh. Alright." The yellow pegasus says moving her pink mane off of her nose. "Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow…?"
"Yeah. See you later Fluttershy." Twilight smiles as she leads Rage away and back towards the library. "Are you okay?" She asks him "That's twice you spaced off like that."
Rage sighs "Yeah." He lied "I am just tired after this morning and everything else…" That part was not as much of a lie. He was indeed tired after his little game with Applejack and meeting her other friends. Aside from one that was. "So…you mentioned five." He says "Who's the one we didn't meet today?"
"Rainbow Dash." Twilight answers opening the door to the library. "She's the most difficult to pin down. If she's not busting clouds then who knows where that pony gets off to."
"Busting clouds?" Rage asks confused.
"Oh Rage, you have a lot to learn about Equestria." The purple unicorn chuckles as they made it to a small table she had. "The Pegasi are in charge of the weather here. Busting clouds is exactly what it sounds like. They break up stray clouds from areas that aren't supposed to have them. Mostly they come from The Everfree Forest. Nopony can control the weather in that place."
"Oh…how do they control the weather?" Rage asks.
"A factory that produces the necessities for it!" Twilight says "I mean someone had to take care of it on Mobius right?"
Rage shook his head to her question. "No. Weather was a natural occurrence, granted some people could influence it or have some level of power over it in small areas." He explains. "Although Mobius doesn't have a place like The Everfree Forest."
"Huh." Twilight didn't say much else on the matter. It was silent for a minute before Rage spoke up again.
"So…outside of unicorns, Pegasi, and earth ponies…are there any others around here?" Rage asks.
"Well there's dragons." Twilight says "Spike is a baby dragon. The Crystal Empire is home to the Crystal Ponies but…who knows if they're even okay with King Sombra wrecking havoc and everything…There are gryphons but we don't see or hear from them much…." She tapped her chin "Then I guess there's Zecora…she's a zebra who lives in The Everfree Forest."
"So…what does Princess Celestia count as?" Rage asks.
"An Alicorn." Twilight states "It's like you mix an earth pony, a pegasus and a unicorn together. Only Equestrian Royalty are Alicorns and they are even more powerful than all three of the other pony races."
"Interesting…" Rage nods.
"If you're a unicorn then you must be magically inclined right?" Twilight asks.
"Yes, I am." Rage replies "However I am not exactly sure how to cast spells here…"
Twilight looked a bit worried but shook it off. She could teach him something! That was exciting! She couldn't recall the last time she taught a unicorn magic! "I could teach you!" She exclaims "Tomorrow we'll sit down and I'll show you how to use magic!"
Rage was taken back by her sudden interest in teaching him. He was a bit unsure but he couldn't pass up the opportunity. Maybe learning unicorn magic would help him find a way to use his Chaos here in Equestria. "That wouldn't be a bad idea…" he says. "If we have the time, we may as well do something."
"That's the spirit!" Twilight smiles. "See you in the morning?"
"Yeah." Rage nods, standing up "Thank you by the way…for letting me stay here."
"It's no big deal!" Twilight replied with a wave of a hoof. "Besides I am glad you're fitting in so well. Now go get some rest."
Rage nods and walked into the guest room and closed the door. He lays in bed and sighs. He thought back to the conversation he had with Twilight on the way to Rarity's. He was fitting in well. Better than he ever did on Mobius. It made him feel a bit depressed that he'd have to leave soon.
As he lay sleep slowly took him…however it did not last. He soon felt a tickling on his nose, a cool breeze across his side. He opened his eyes to see snow in front of him. In a panic he leaps to his feet. On all fours he looked around and shivered. Was this a dream?
"What's going on?" He wondered aloud. "Where am I…?" He questions. He looked through the snow storm ahead of him. He could barely see and he was freezing. He started to walk. He kept looking around in search of something familiar he could use to identify where he was.
Soon the raging snow falling from the skies began to let up. It felt like an eternity for the crimson unicorn though. He looked ahead as a bright light seemed to shine not too far ahead. As the weather cleared up he could see a beautiful crystal palace and a castle town of the same architectural style. He smiled in awe. He didn't know where it was but it offered potential shelter.
He began to run towards the town but stopped dead in his tracks as the ground rumbled and shook. He looked around, raising his guard. The ice cracked around him and a sinister black energy flowed out of the crack directly in front of him. Two green fiery eyes could be made out along with a red horn and slowly a black unicorn with sinister dark armor appeared. It faced towards the palace and advanced.
Rage shivered not from the cold. He could feel darkness on this unicorn. He ran at it but phased right through it. As if he didn't even exist. "What…what is all of this?!" He shouts in frustration.
He watched as the unicorn continued on. Sinister black crystals began to grow and cover the entirety of the castle town. Rage followed, unable to do anything. He would watch shimmering crystal ponies lose their luster and become sorry shells of what they were.
It was then the unicorn made it to the palace. Rage turned and before him the once elegant crystal ponies toiled away in chains. The beautiful crystal structures had been replaced with the evil, gray shadowy ones. A heart of crystal in the plaza under the palace changed too.
"What is all of this?" Rage asks. He was afraid. He had never seen anything like this. He followed the pony up to a throne room. There stood a pink Alicorn, a white Unicorn and suddenly they too vanished like ghosts.
Rage held his head "STOP" he calls. He didn't want to see more. It was in vain. As if an illusion, the palace throne room changed too. Now a dark and sinister crystal like all those the dark unicorn had conjured. The unicorn sat down authoritatively. Two crystal ponies appear tending to him.
"This is some nightmare…" Rage says to himself. He shook his head. He closed his eyes praying to wake up when a banging was heard. He opens his eyes. He was in the very same room. He shot his gaze to the doors into the throne room. Another bang and they flung open.
Rage's heart skipped a beat. He looked and he smiled. There was Twilight and her friends! Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity too. The only one he hadn't met was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane. Her cutie mark, a rainbow lightning bolt coming from a storm cloud.
The group looked at the evil unicorn who laughed. Suddenly everything stopped like a projection. Rage looked confused. "What in the-" he questioned before what looked like a tear in the very fabric of space appeared.
Out of it a tall dark purple alicorn with a flowing mane like the starry sky on a clear night. A few flaps of her wings guided her down in front of Rage. "We were not expecting this." She says.
"What's going on?" Rage asks and she bows her head. She could see him. She knew he was there…she was different he could surmise.
"We are Princess Luna." The alicorn introduced herself. "Princess of the night. I felt a strange dream and I followed…but this is beyond expectations."
"Princess Luna?" Rage tilts his head. He recalled her being mentioned by Twilight. "Can you make sense of all this?"
"Of course." She says walking next to Rage. "It's rare to see someone with future sight here." She said "You have seen the past, the present and now a potential future…." She says.
Rage looked as everything started. With a laugh the unicorn's horn zapped a green energy. With that crystals encapsulate the six. Looks of horror and fear cloud the six ponies faces. "No!" Rage cried. He teared up and cried. Crying? He hadn't done that in a long time. "Twilight and her friends fail…" he sobs.
Rage looks at Princess Luna who looks distraught at the sight of the events. "…You have seen the fate of others…" she says sadly. "Why did it have to be theirs?" She sniffs.
"That's not true!" Rage says firmly "The future is not written!" He shouts. She looks at him. "This has to be what happens if I am not with them…"
"What difference do you think you could make?" Luna asks.
"I don't know." Rage states "But I will do anything to protect them…no matter what!"
Luna looked at him. "You are a simple unicorn. You could not stop King Sombra…"
"Maybe I can't…not alone but with friends? I can…" Rage says sternly. "Strength to protect what matters…" he mutters. "I understand that now."
Princess Luna looks upon Rage's determined and spiteful glare at Sombra and sighs. She couldn't convince him otherwise and she knew it. She vanished and soon the scene resumed. Rage shook his head and watched the crystalline statues of his friends. "TWILIGHT!" He shouts. The next thing he knew he was shooting out of the bed and nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. He stood next to the bed as the unicorn comes running in.
"Is everything okay?!" She asks, her horn glowing with magic. She looked around and to the panting Rage. "Rage?"
"It was…a-a nightmare." Rage panted. "You all faced…" he stopped. He couldn't tell her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He apologized.
"It's alright…" Twilight smiles. "It's time to get around anyways. I'll see you out back in a few?"
Rage nods his head in agreement. He thought for a minute about his dream then what he was doing today. He had to give it his all to prevent his vision from coming to pass. He swore Sombra wouldn't succeed. The Crystal Empire would be saved.