The Alternate After Party

by Blackdrag-rose

VII: The Other

The storm had passed and Ponyville was safe. All of it was thanks to the actions of a single pegasus that went by the name of Rocket Sky, a name that was now known throughout the small town. Ponies talked abut him in happiness, glad he had bested a storm of that magnitude, while most of the other pegasi talked about him in envy, wishing they had his ability to best the toughest of storms. The only ponies not talking about Rocket were Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer.

Rainbow had a lot on her mind, like what she had seen after he had been blasted by lightning and had gotten up like the electricity meant nothing to him. She had seen him looking like a fully grown alicorn, with a flowing mane, a long unicorn's horn, a set of large wings, and a body like Celestia's. Then in the next instant he was a pegasus again, as if he had never been an alicorn in the first place. She knew that most pegasi couldn't contain the magic of wind like he had done, but all that meant was that he was stronger than most pegasi in Equestria.

There was something wrong with that stallion and she was going to figure out what that something was.

~Ponyville Hospital~

Hospital Room 201, the first suite on the right wing of the second floor of Ponyville's general hospital and currently the room of one Rocket Sky. The poor stallion had charred hair, which was immediately shaved off to make way for the operation, and bleeding spots scattered across his entire body. His wings were tattered, the ruined feathers removed and the wings bandaged up by professionals, but they would be working again in a few days. That was if he recovered from the shock the lightning had done to his body.

The doctor had worked on him throughout the afternoon and into the beginning of nighttime, but despite all her work the stallion never once woke up. The lightning had done a number on his entire body, hitting every single major body system at the same time in less than a minute, which was the amount of time he was under attack. One minute's worth of damage and it was currently uncertain when the stallion was ever going to reawaken. So when the doctor was finished she closed the door and left her unconscious patient alone for the night, unaware of the creature lurking in the shadows.

"About time she left," Discord commented, stepping out of the shadows as he faced the stallion in the bed, "I was thinking I was going to have to do something about her if she didn't leave, but just as I decided I'd transport her somewhere she decided it was time to leave. I must say, I am surprised that you still survived that lightning bolt, especially when it was designed to bucking KILL you. And your going to have to speak to me at some point, otherwise I might just end up killing you while you sleep."

The air next to Rocket's bed shimmered and suddenly a second Rocket was sitting there, but this one was different then the one in the bed. His entire body was larger then the one in the bed, about the same size as Princess Celestia, and he had both an enlarged horn and large wings. He bore a golden flowing mane and tail, though he was also wearing a set of aquamarine colored royal armor and a crown that matched. This form was the previous Rocket Sky, the fifth alicorn of Equestria, the Prince of Balance, and the King of the Changeling Swarm.

"You called?" the shade asked, turning his head towards the Spirit of Chaos.

"Your darn right I called," Discord snapped, literally snapping his claws and sat in the chair he summoned, "I should have known that you would have survived that lightning bolt. I mean, your a freaking alicorn in one reality and a pegasus in another. I want to know how you can survive the toughest of attacks and still walk away as if it means nothing to you."

"Such a direct question from you Discord," the shade responded, giving a small chuckle before continuing, "but the to answer your question, as stupid as it is, is quite simple. After becoming an alicorn you tried to separate my powers into various forms; earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn. You know I cannot be a unicorn, otherwise I'd transform again eventually, and you'd never get to me if I was an earth pony. As a pegasus you could knock me out of the air at any time during a storm and make it seem like an accident.

But the thing you don't understand is that I can stand up to everything since the body of an alicorn cannot be broken beyond repair. See the damage that you've caused to this body? In a matter of days they will be fully healed and I will be flying out of here without a care in the world. You can't kill me Discord, I will keep coming back until you somehow break both my alicorn self and the one sitting in the bed."

"I will break you one day," Discord replied, the chair vanishing as he held up the medallion, "and if I fail to do it every other way in every book in existence then I will do the last thing possible. I will smash the medallion and kill everypony inside of it."

"Go ahead," the shade challenged, stepping up to the Spirit with a smug on his face, "Try it. Know that whatever you choose to do will be the least of your problems. I will be coming after you, one way or the other. Go ahead and quake in fear, knowing that my dreaded and feared attack will be inches away from your face when I recover my power."

Discord did shake just a little, he remembered the attack and wasn't looking forward to seeing it again. He growled and vanished with a puff of smoke, not wanting the Shade to actually attack him and let his presence be known to the town.

The Shade smiled, he scared the God of chaos off and now he could make sure he would get his powers back eventually. He leaned over the side of the bed and stared at himself, wondering how things were already going downhill in the few days he had been trapped.

"Listen to me you silly fool," the shade said, speaking directly to his sleeping form, "Find the Master of Shadows and fix this mess that Discord created. Head to the Crystal Empire and learn what is needed to save us."

That was all he needed to say, all the instruction he needed to reply to the sleeping pony in order to insure his reawakening. Find the Master of Shadows and learn what was necessary. The Shade smiled and faded away, returning to his plane of existence while he waited to be summoned again.