The After Party

by Blackdrag-rose

XII: Forbidden Conversation

"Luna, what in Faust's name are you withholding from me?"

That was the question that Celestia asked her sister as the Princesses transported the body of Rocket Sky directly to Canterlot after taming his power. His friends Wisdom, Peachy, Tick, and the pony dressed as a Changeling were left behind with the rest of the sleeping population of Ponyville. The only pony that came along with them was Coffee Bean, who had the three dragons that had caused the whole mess magically bound.

Luna had remained silent the entire trip, keeping her magic on the stallion in case his power was to erupt again. She was mauling over all the details that she had learned about the stallion. His power was immense, powerful enough to restore a severed horn and change his physical form into something that he wasn't.

If that had truly been the Changeling Queen Chrysalis then that might have meant that she was willing to aid the ponies she had tried to conquer from another threat. Luna also wondered if the Dragon King was going to come and wage war on them.

That was the question that rang in the ears of Cadence and Twilight, making them wonder how much more that they didn't know about Rocket Sky. It was the question that made Coffee Bean be on the watch for anything funny from both the dragons and the stallion's limb body. It was, more importantly, the question that was annoying Luna more than it should have been.

The Princesses were joined by Prince Shining Armor, who had left the Crystal Kingdom shortly after his wife had left for Canterlot and Ponyville. He was glad to see his old mentor again, but considering what was happening he kept a straight face and followed the Princesses. Together the group descended deep into the bowels of Canterlot Castle, heading past the dungeons and the crystal caves altogether. When they stopped they stopped in front of a huge golden door, which opened to reveal a room with a huge prison like cell made completely out of crystal.

"What is this place?" Cadence asked as Rocket was placed in the center of the crystal prison.

"A special holding place we developed a millenium ago," Celestia answered, closing the door with a hollow thud, "A room designed for holding those who could pose a serious threat to Equestria. Rocket Sky, with how powerful his magic is, is now considered a threat and must be dealt with. We must figure out what his power is and find a way to destroy it before it can harm anypony.

And that reminds me Luna; just exactly how much have you been withholding from me?"

"I wasn't sure if I should have told you," Luna began, stopping as her sister got up in her face.

"What did he do?" Celestia asked.

"He was being attacked by Changelings and an Ursa Major not long ago..." Luna began, only to be interrupted again.

"Then how is he still alive?" Celestia demanded.

"Its his power," Luna said, "It awakened in his time of need and destroyed the Ursa Major. It said 'weakling' or something like that and obliterated the Major. Whatever it is appears whenever Rocket needs it, just like last night."

"I swear if he evolves into an alicorn we'll have to seal him away," Celestia exclaimed, shocking her fellow Princesses, "If his power takes control and takes that form we'll have no choice but to seal him away until he can control it."

A groan reached her ears, so she turned towards the cell and watched as Rocket's power awakened yet again. Only this time instead of turning him into some sort of werepony creature he opened his eyes and displayed the same golden color as before. Chains shot off the wall and attached to him legs, which were to prevent him or the creature from moving much or using their power to escape.

"So, your awake," Celestia said, turning to face the stallion, "You will answer my questions. Who are you?"

"Who?" the stallion asked, almost sounding possessed and evil, "Ah, Princess Celestia, Rocket has great respect for you, your sister, and Cadence."

"And what about me?" Twilight asked.

"He has much more respect for you," the stallion answered, turning his head towards Twilight.

"Hey, answer my question," Celestia said, "Who the buck are you?"

"Hehehe," the stallion said, hanging his head low for a second, "My name is Dark Sky. I am the power that rests within Rocket, awakened whenever he needs me to save his flank from being killed by creatures like the Ursa Major."

"Next question; are you evil or a threat to Equestria?"

"Now that is the question isn't it?" Dark asked, toying with the Princess now, "Am I, the power of Rocket Sky, evil? Am I a threat to the safety of your precious ponies and the treaties you've established? Foolish Celestia, of course I am evil. Does the fact that I take over Rocket's body and change him against his will mean nothing to you and your fellow Princesses?"

"You wont be leaving this prison anytime soon," Celestia threw back, "These crystals will prevent you from leaving as those chains restrict the magic that courses through your body. Sure, you may take over Rocket and change him into a monster bent on destroying everything, but you wont be leaving the cell. And even if you were to escape this cell you would be destroyed by the magic of the six of us."

"SISTER!" Luna exclaimed, shocked by her sister's choice of words, "You can't leave Rocket to the fact of losing himself to his power and becoming something that he's not. You can't expect us to just stand by and let him lose himself, only to destroy him whenever he escapes."

"Of course we can," Celestia countered, "I will not allow the ponies of Equestria to be harmed by whatever Dark makes out of Rocket. Of course we can end this now by sealing him away on the moon or somewhere where nopony will ever find him."

Energy seemed to gather in the room, but Celestia knew that none of them were even attempting to use magic, so she turned to the cell and her blood went cold. Dark was powering up another one of those energy attacks, except that this one was aimed right at the cell and the crystal wall it was built into. She threw her magic at the prison and stood her ground, making it harder for the stallion to break his way through it. In an instant the chains shattered and the attacked fired, blasting a hole in the crystal wall despite Celestia's magic helping it.

"Catch him," Celestia cried, her magic looping around the stallion as he passed her.

"Nice try Celestia," Dark grinned, the magic slipping off of him as he raced up the stairs.

Celestia and the other Princesses ran at the walls surrounding the door and opened magical gateways that would allow them to travel up to the top of the stairs so they could beat him. Shining Armor and Coffee Bean followed from behind, their magic ready to take Dark down when they reached the top. As they soon found out magic was gathering around Dark, which meant he was likely powering up another attack for when he reached the top.

Celestia and the others appeared in the hallway, facing the door as they waited for the stallion to arrive. Their magic was ready to paralyze him so he could be returned to the prison and then likely sealed away so he didn't harm anypony. They heard his hooves hitting the stairs and prepare to loose their stun spells, but what happened next caught them completely off guard. As Dark appeared his magic activated and suddenly he was gone, the sound of a sonic rainbow echoing in the air.

"Where did he go?" Shining asked as he Coffee Bean emerged.

"No clue," Twilight answered, "but considering Rocket's friends are in Ponyville we should check there first."

Celestia nodded and they departed for Ponyville at once, though she hoped that they would arrive in time to stop Dark from doing anything to the sleeping ponies there.