The Alternate After Party

by Blackdrag-rose

III: Requestioning

Rocket made a move for the door of the train as it neared the station, his friends not too far behind him. He expected that the story about his strange name had been scrapped and Wisdom was running with something new, but he honestly didn't care at this point. The strange thing about all of it was that Sunset was following him, why he didn't know and he wondered what she had seen in him.

"Ah snap," Tick exclaimed, swinging his hoof around Rocket's neck, "Rocket's got himself a marefriend. We've been up for not even an hour and he snags himself a fine mare. I envy you my dear friend."

"Now hold on," Sunset started, not even liking where the conversation was going, "We've only just met and he's helped me out twice so far. It's that crazy stallion we keep seeing..."

Rocket sighed, his head was already hurting and he wished he had his horn back so he could use his magic to shut everypony up. Tick had the ability to annoy those around him with his questions and remarks, but this time he had gone too far by saying that he and Sunset were in love. In his own time Rocket had fallen for the Changeling Princess, the daughter of Chrysalis herself, but where the Queen was evil her daughter was pure of heart. He doubted he could fall in love with Sunset Shimmer, but he had fallen for an different mare once he could definitely do it again.

"Look lively," Rocket said, the door opening and he beckoned for Peachy, "Go ahead Peachy, the Elements are eagerly awaiting our arrival."

And so Peachy was the first to disembark from the train, followed by Tick and Wisdom. As Rocket expected Rainbow Dash was quick to approach Wisdom and inquire if he was the one he was named Rocket Sky, to which Wisdom replied that he wasn't. He knew from the initial reaction that if he was a unicorn Dash would fly away in a huff, but he also knew that she would be thrilled to have another pegasus to race against.

"You seem lost in thought," Sunset remarked, eying the stallion, "Is something the matter?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," Rocket replied, taking a step forward as he left the train.

"So your the one named Rocket Sky?" the cyan mare asked, seeming interested in him all of a sudden, "I take it your skilled in flying?"

"Well, I am Rocket Sky," he replied, sighing as he wondered how he was going to explain his small skill, "and I guess you could say I have some skill in flying. I managed to catch the wind after jumping out of a moving train and landed on another moving one."

"Ah yeah, that's what I'm talking about." Rainbow Dash seemed genuinely impressed with his minor skills, "But you definitely need some training before you are at my level."

"Please Rainbow Dash, we can discuss these things later," Twilight said, not impressed that her friend was going a little crazy after meeting a new pegasus, let alone two of them. "We need to have some questions answered before anything can happen."

Dash groaned a bit, but as the group made their way towards Twilight's library Rocket could not help but wonder what Sunset was going to do now. It wasn't like she had anything to do now that the stalker stallion was dealt with. He felt a magical pinch on the back of his neck and sure enough Sunset Shimmer was following them.

"You didn't think our adventure was over did you?" the mare asked, falling in line with them, "You saved me from that stallion once and I returned the favor, but I am aware that we will not have seen the last of him for the time being. Come along now, we can't let him plague our minds."

Rocket chuckled, he knew that even if the stallion appeared again he would make sure that he steered clear of his path and ignored him entirely. He just hoped that the secret of he and his friends stayed buried and was best forgotten when the question finally arrived.

"Silly ponies," Pinkie excitedly said, "The writer has decided that this is our questioning chapter and we'll answer a ton of questions and such."

"Your giving me a headache Pinkie," Twilight said, the overactive mare quieting down, "I don't know who you are talking about, but we do have questions that need answering."

~Canterlot River~

After the train fell into the river between Ponyville and Canterlot there was a rippling effect on the river, bubbles appearing as a pony emerged from the water. The stallion shook his head as he reached the bank of the river, patting himself down to be sure he still had the spear shard, which wasn't where it was supposed to be. What was in it's place was a shard of a crystal, one light blue crystal with the cutie mark of his prey.

"That horse is very tricky," he said to himself, "Somehow made trade for shard. Traded her shard for my shard. Nature is definitely out of balance."

He replaced the shard and began to make his way to the nearest town, the one he suspected was Ponyville. He needed to replenish his supplies before he began tracking the Windigo again.

~Twilight's Library~

Twilight's headache was much worse then earlier, mostly due to the fact that her questions were mostly being answered by Rocket. From what she had gathered form the first three questions the group, excluding Sunset Shimmer, were from Trottingham and they had arrived in Canterlot by the effects of their party. The third had been whether or not they were a threat to the security of Equestria, to which all of them had answered they weren't. Now it was time for the final group question Twilight wanted to ask at the moment.

"Last group question," Twilight said, looking each of them in the eye, "How is it that you know so much about us without having met us even once?"

Rocket couldn't silence Wisdom this time, so he hung his head low and waited for the fatal blow that would forever change their world.

"The newspaper of course," Wisdom answered, completely surprising Rocket with his answer, "We have read the newspaper and heard all about the six of you."

Twilight, however, was quite pleased with the answer and moved on to the other matters, such as determining where each of the four were going to be staying. Tick would be staying with Vinyl and Octavia while they resided in Ponyville for the new week or two and would move to Canterlot with them until further notice. Wisdom would be staying with Pinkie, which meant they would be doing some stupid stuff over the new couple of days. Peachy...she would be staying with Applejack and her family for the remainder of her stay.

"However," Twilight continued, looking up at three ponies in particular, "there is but one sentencing that I have yet to issue and the belongs to you, Rocket. You will be staying with Rainbow Dash and you will learn what it means to be a weather pony like all the other pegasus in Ponyville. Maybe Sunset Shimmer will have some fun showing you her spells and showing you around the town when Rainbow isn't busy with you."

Rocket thought it was perfect to have his teacher be Rainbow Dash, but he was afraid that with was changing the future would be completely different. At least training under the Element of Loyalty would be different and would keep him away from any dangerous stunts. Or at least the ones that involved going to war against anypony that was a god in their own right and ability.