Celestia sat in her tower and slowly she raised the sun as she does every morning. The bright rays of the sun gave a gentle warm feeling on the balcony. She sighed a heavy sigh and looked out over the gardens.

A gray stallion dressed in golden armor came into her room. "Princess Celestia, I'm sorry to disturb you." They spoke to get her attention.

"It's alright..." She sighs, turning to the guard pony "What is it?"

"Your sister sent me to make sure you were awake." He says "The delegates from Saddle Arabia are scheduled to arrive sooner than expected."

Celestia nods, while she was a little bit surprised they were running early she wasn't too bothered by it. All the better for her sister, Luna would be able to get to sleep earlier. "Thank you. Is Burning Rage awake?"

"Prince-" The guard began to say before he caught himself and shook his head as Celestia shot him a look. "Sorry er- Burning Rage hasn't been checked on since he arrived last night."

"Very well, make sure he is ready." She says opening her wardrobe and pulling an elegant dress out. The guard salutes and takes his leave as she looks at the regal dress. She smiled, the last time she had worn it was to Cadence's wedding.

Meanwhile, across the castle in the guest rooms Rage was getting himself around. Blade floating next to him. "You know you could ask to not be present." the small dragon says.

"I can't do that." Rage sighs as he finishes brushing his mane. "I made a promise."

"I understand that but aren't you worried? You don't know much about their culture. What if you offend them?" Blade asks.

"Jeez, and you say I worry too much." Rage chuckles "Have some faith for once. You think Celestia would let that happen?" The alicorn looked to the dragon as a knock from the door reverberated through the room. Blade quickly vanished.

"M-master Rage?" A timid voice came as the door opened and one of the castle's steward mares was there poking her head in.

"Oh, you can come in!" He says turning to see the mare. The smaller pale blue unicorn came in with a rather regal looking outfit in a magical grip. It was a bright red with golden yellow shoulder caps, a regal yellow embroidery decorated the front and a white undershirt with a fancy collar.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting. I was asked to bring this to you and help get you ready for the meeting with the dignitaries from Saddle Arabia." She says as Rage approached her.

"Thank you." He says taking the outfit from her and looking it over. He wasn't sure it would fit him at first glance. It seemed a little big but he didn't really have a choice.

"This was worn by former King Cosmos when he was young." The mare states as Rage attempted to put it on. "Celestia thinks it should fit."

Rage slipped the red overcoat part over his sides, unlike the suit Rarity had made, this had special cutouts for wings. He fidgets it to get his wings through and looks in the mirror. "Wow." Rage said, a bit surprised.

The crimson unicorn wasn't necessarily used to wearing such fancy clothing. As a Mobian he was used to the loose fitting clothing he wore. Though it wasn't exactly uncomfortable by any means. A little big if anything but not in a way one would notice.

"You look wonderful." The mare says "You should go and see the Princesses before the dignitaries arrive." She suggests.

Rage nods and thanks the mare before they walk to the door of the room and Rage opens it for the mare who left to go about her duties and Rage making his way to the audience chamber.

The hall was empty, and Rage felt as if it was a longer walk than normal. Even if that made no sense to the young alicorn. Eventually he made it. Inside was Celestia and Luna. Both on their thrones. They took notice of the crimson alicorn's entrance.

Celestia was in a clean white dress and Luna a darker blue. The dresses were elegant and very clearly made to stand out while not clashing with their own color.

"Good morning Princesses." Rage says with a bow.

"Good morning Rage." Celestia says with a smile. Seeing him in the outfit made her think of her childhood, if not just for who wore it before him. "I'm glad to see the outfit works for you."

"It fits but I was meaning to ask why do you want me to wear this?" Rage asks "I thought we were going to push the point that I am not any kind of royalty?"

"We do, however we can't have you not dressed for the occasion." Celestia answers "However it is difficult to get something appropriate made on such short notice."

"So…what's this whole meeting about?" Rage asks curiously.

"We aren't entirely sure." Luna says "The royal family of Saddle Arabia simply requested a meeting with their dignitaries but were not specific on the details."

"Is that…normal?" Rage follows up with another question. He couldn't quite explain it but his gut told him something was off.

"No. It is quite unusual for them to just request a meeting without telling us why." Celestia says as she waves Rage to come join the two at the head of the room. "Just be respectful and let us do the talking." She says as Rage walked over and sat next to her on her left side.

It wasn't long after that a fanfare was heard and two earth ponies entered. A brown stallion with a blonde mane, adorned by an orange and blue toned bridle, hoodlike cover and saddle. To his side was a light purple mare with a darker toned mane. She was adorned in a violet bridle and saddle with white gemstones and a crescent moon.

Celestia, Luna and Rage stood and the five all bowed in mutual respect. "Haakim, it is a pleasure to see you again." Celestia greets the two.

"And you Celestia." Haakim, the brown stallion returns the greeting. "You and your subjects are as welcoming as ever."

"It is good to see you again, Amira." Luna says to the mare. "We hope the trip fared well?"

"It is good to see you as well, Luna." The mare replied "The trip was pleasant."

"Haakim, Amira, I would like you to meet Burning Rage." Celestia introduces Rage to the two dignitaries.

Haakim then looked at Rage and raised an eye. "My apologies, I was unaware of Equestria crowning a prince as well." He says, bowing his head. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Burning Rage."

"Pleasure is mine." Rage replies. "Though, I am not a prince." He half chuckles with a blush of embarrassment.

Haakim looked a bit surprised and gave Celestia a look. "King then?" he questions. "No need to be modest with us. Everypony knows alicorns are Equestrian royalty."

"Rage here is…an interesting case." Celestia says "As of now he is an ambassador."

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you regardless." Amira smiles. "What of Princess Twilight?

"Indeed will she be present for our discussions?" Haakim asks curiously. "I was looking forward to meeting her."

"She is still busy with something that we requested before you requested this meeting. Unfortunately it needs her undivided attention. Rage will communicate everything to her when he returns to Ponyville." Celestia replies.

"Then you must have a lot of trust in him." Haakim nods, looking at the crimson Alicorn. "Normally I'd not approve of having a stranger present without having been told beforehand but given our abrupt request I'll look past it…especially given the circumstances."

"On that topic, what pray tell has you requesting a meeting on such short notice? Is something the matter?" Celestia inquires.

Haakim looks at Celestia and Luna. "We have had rumblings amongst our smaller settlements of somepony or something causing our ponies to lose themselves..." He says.

Celestia's eyes narrowed in concern at the words spoken by Haakim. Rage looked at her and a shiver went up his spine. While she said nothing her body language was clear. Celestia was worried and on edge even though she was hiding it well.

Haakim looked to Amira and back to the three alicorns. "When we investigated we discovered ponies afflicted by a strange illness. Our unicorns are unable to use magic and pegasi are unable to fly." He then looks down "What's worse is they're all in a state of…despair. Like they lost their will to live…We've no idea what the cause could be either. We came to see if this plague has fallen on Equestria as well or if you have ever had such a blight."

"We have had no such reports here." Celestia answers, concern clouded her voice even still. "I can't even think of anything that could do such a thing…"

"It sounds an awful lot like something Christain would do does it not?" Blade's voice echoes softly to Rage.

The crimson alicorn worried about that possibility. Christain has never recovered this quickly. If he did then Rage knew Nix's power over him was growing much like Chaotix had explained. But even then, he never had an ability like that or at least never showed one.

"Do you have any leads at all?" Celestia asks."Any specific ponies it seems to target?"

"No. It doesn't seem to matter who you are, what you do or who you're around. Which was why we had hoped you may have some kind of answer for us." Haakim shook his head as he replied to the Princess' question.

Celestia looked at Luna, then she looked at Rage. "Rage? Your...studies, have they uncovered anything?" She asks. Rage, not expecting her to ask him anything he looked up almost as if caught off guard. He knew what she was referring to so he thought deeply about the question.

"Uh...no." He finally answers, shaking his head. "I don't know of anypony...or anything for that matter, that would cause such an affliction. Quite honestly it concerns me as well."

Amira and Haakim looked at each other. Their look was one of worry. Rage looked to Celestia. It didn't take a mind-reader to know that whatever was plaguing Saddle Arabia was not only weighing heavily on the two emissaries but it had to be bothering those in charge of their people just as much.

"Is there any aid you can provide?" Amira asks.

"I am not even sure what aid we could provide in this instance." Celestia sighs.

"A research team? Somepony to look into the condition afflicting our people? Anything!" Haakim begs. "While our King may not outright say it, we need help."

Celestia looks to Luna, no words are spoken but Luna nods to Celestia as if she was in agreement on something. Celestia then returns her look to Amira and Haakim. "We will talk and see what aid we can offer. In the meantime...you are welcome in Canterlot for your own safety should you so desire."

Haakim and Amira's posture seemed to lighten up some when they heard Celestia's words. Both bowed their heads in thanks. "We thank you, Princess Celestia, Luna..." Amira says.

They then turn to Rage who bowed his head back at them. "It was a pleasure to meet you Prince" Haakim began but then stopped himself and shook his head. "I'm sorry...Burning Rage."

Rage raised his head "It was very nice to meet you as well, Haakim." the crimson alicorn says. "I hope when we next meet it may be on better terms."

The two Saddle Arabians smiled and looked at Celestia and Luna again. "We'll look forward to hearing from you." Haakim said as they walked out of the room. Once they had left Celestia let a heavy sigh out.

"Sister, why did you not tell them?" Luna asks.

"Tell them what?" Rage asks almost immediately. His curiosity peaked.

Celestia looked to Rage with a grim glare then to Luna. "Sister, we do not know if it is him. Until we can confirm I dare not even mention the likes of that...monster." she answers. "However...we cannot let that possibility slide..."

"So what do we do?" Luna asks curiously.

"We'll gather some volunteers and have them look into it...in the meantime...we need to be ready should whatever plagues the Saddle Arabians come to Equestria..." Celestia sighs as she looks at Rage. "Rage, I ask for your cooperation in this matter as well."

Rage nods his head "Of course Celestia, anything you need." he says.

"Now hold on!" Blade's voice calls to Rage. "You can't just agree to whatever! You have your own duties too, remember!"

Rage ignored Blade's outburst and looked at Celestia "What do you need from me?" he asks.

"I know this will sound...unorthodox..." She says looking to the garden where Discord stood once more encased in stone thanks to the efforts of Twilight and her friends. "But Discord was doing well on his path to reformation."

"Excuse me?" Rage asks Celestia, looking at the Princess. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh silly me." She chuckles. "It was while you were back on Mobius...Discord was...actually getting along well doing good over evil...I don't know what changed to make him act like he did..."

"You want to give him ANOTHER chance?" Luna asks, unsure herself.

"Like I said, I know how it sounds but I ask that you trust me sister." Celestia says, looking at Luna.

"I'd like to ask him something myself honestly." Rage piped up getting their attention. "Before we finished him off he mentioned something about Christain freeing him...which piqued my curiosity. Freed him from what?"

"If anything goes wrong, I am sure Twilight and her friends will be able to handle it but if not…." Celestia says.

"I understand." Rage nods. "I'll keep him

in check."

"Then for the time being, Rage, why don't you head back to Ponyville..." Celestia says with a sigh. "…and thank you for being here during this meeting. We will send for you and Twilight soon."

Rage nodded. "It was a pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity." he said with a bow of his head. Even though he felt as if he contributed little to nothing in regards to the meeting, as if he was there as another friendly face. He wouldn't tell Celestia that though. He was okay with it.

"Oh and Rage…" Celestia spoke again before he turned to leave. He looked at her and tilted his head showing he was listening. "You can hold on to the outfit for now." She says "It looks good on you."

Rage smiled and gave an embarrassed chuckle. "You think?" He asks, looking at himself. "I'm not as sold on it personally. I feel too…uh royal…" he says

Celestia nods, listening to his concern, "If you're going to keep your promise you'll need something you can wear. If you'd like something else I am sure we can get something made."

"I'll think about it." He nodded. "Thank you, Celestia. For everything." With that Rage gave Celestia and Luna a farewell wave before he walked out of the audience chambers and through the halls of the castle until he was at the front steps. With a flex of his wings he looked to the air. He inhaled and with a few powerful flaps of the wings he was off into the air.

As he flew he felt the breeze against his face and smiled. It felt nice and soothing. Something about the freedom of flight always put him at ease. He let a happy exhale of breath out.

"Hey!" A cheerful and familiar voice calls to Rage. He looked up and to his right. Rainbow Dash came down and joined him. "Looking good." She chuckles.

"Hm?" Rage tilted his head before he realized she was referring to his clothing. "Oh…yeah…" he blushed.

"What's the occasion?" The pegasus asks.

"I was with the Princesses." Rage replies. "Remember?"

"Right. That meeting thing." Rainbow nods. "How was that?"

"Fine, although I feel as if Twilight should have been the one to attend. Not me." Rage sighs.

"Yeah…she was supposed to but she was going on about something she had to do and had to do it alone or something." Rainbow Dash sighs.

"Weird...she didn't tell me about it." Rage says tapping his chin. The two landed at the Library. He looked to the setting sun and sighed.

"She was pretty quiet about it to all of us." Rainbow Dash says. "She didn't tell any of us..."

"Huh..." Rage tapped his chin. "That is weird...where is she?"

"...how do you know she's not here?" Rainbow Dash asks skeptically.

"It's pretty obvious." Rage says "Outside of no lights being on in the library I can't sense her magic at all...or Spike for that matter."

"Wait...you can SENSE ponies?" Rainbow Dash asks "Like...you can tell if there's somepony nearby?" Rage nodded in response. "That is so cool! How do you do it?!"

"It's uh..." Rage pauses "It's hard to explain exactly...it sorta just comes naturally to me. Everypony has a unique energy to them and if I tune my senses in I can focus on it...I've been able to do it since I was young."

"Cool..." Rainbow Dash says in awe. "I wonder if Twilight can do it..."

"Not in the way I can. My power is rooted in Mobian origins...not Equestrian..." Rage chuckles.

"Right." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "I sorta forget you're from a whole nother' world sometimes." She nudged him with an elbow. "You just fit in so well here!"

"Uh...thanks?" Rage asks, raising an eye. "Anyway before you go...I wanted to ask you something..."

"What's up?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow of her own, curious as to what he had to say.

"Celestia said something about Discord...being reformed before I came back to our little incident...what did she mean by that?" He asks.

"OH!" Rainbow Dash exclaims "Well...Celestia freed him and tried getting Fluttershy to reform him for a while he was acting all goody-goody...like he wanted to be good but I knew he was up to something! Though that was all while you were back home wasn't it?"

Rage nodded. "Yeah, hence my curiosity." He comments as Rainbow Dash went to the door. "See you tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I've got tons of work tomorrow." She sighs opening it. "Good luck with Discord."

Rage smirked and nodded as she waves. The door closed. Now he was alone in the library. "I hope Twilight is alright…" he says to himself looking at the stairs that lead up to her room. He paused for a moment before he looked back to the door leading to the guest room he had been staying in.

He walked up closer and noticed a sign was hung there. Carved out of wood it looked a lot like the ones back on Sweet Apple Acres. The sign read; "Rage's Room" he smiled at the sign. They must have hung it up while he was in Canterlot. It gave him a warm feeling, a feeling of belonging. One he hadn't felt in a very long time. He opened the door and entered the room for the night.