The After Party

by Blackdrag-rose

II: Ticket Trouble

As Rocket waited in line his three friends stood by the tracks, watching the ponies walk off and board the arriving train. There were two ponies in front of him, with the first one currently buying his ticket to Manehatten. According to what he heard it was supposed to be around noon, which meant if they could leave soon they'd arrive in Ponyville sometime in the afternoon. He looked back and made sure that his friends were there...wait, where did Jacob go?

He sighed and focused on the line, waiting for the two in front of him to finish their business and move on so he could inquire about the prices. Then another thought dawned on him; the four of them were going to have to come up with names that fit in with their cutie marks. He silently hoped that Jacob didn't cause any trouble, wherever he wandered off to.

Jacob stepped out from behind the column and found himself near what appeared to be the Royal Canterlot Library, but how he got there he didn't know. He figured he might have similar abilities to the infamous Pinkie Pie, but he'd have to test his theory out later on after he researched the history of Equestria. Of course the guards could be a problem, considering that the Changelings had invaded Canterlot within the last year. Or had that event not yet happened? Either way he figured that the guards were going to give him trouble.

"Halt citizen," one of the guards, a white coated stallion wearing golden armor, said, "Before you enter the library you must present your identification card so we can verify you are who you say you are."

"Well okay then," Jacob said, smirking slightly as he withdrew a plastic card with his pony pic on it and presented it to the guards.

"Hmm..." the guard said, "Mister Inner Wisdom?"

"That would be me," Jacob answered, not surprised that the name was surprisingly accurate to what he was thinking his name would be.

"You are free to enter the library," the guard said, returning the card to Jacob, "You wouldn't happen to be related to the infamous Pinkamena Diane Pie by any chance?"

"I'm not related to her," Jacob answered, the card disappearing as soon as he received it, "but we do seem to have similar abilities."

As Jacob, or rather Inner Wisdom, entered the library the guards shared a look with each other.

"Shall I report to the Princess this time?" the white stallion asked, his light brown coated partner nodding, "She'll want to know there is another pony with the abilities of Pinkie Pie roaming around Equestria."

Wisdom quickly walked through the hall and entered the Star Swirl the Bearded wing, where the most ancient knowledge of Equestria was supposed to rest. He knew that from watching the television that this particular wing held secrets, which took some time to locate any of them. Taking the guards into consideration he knew he had very little time before the Princess arrived. He chuckled and began searching, looking for anything and everything that would catch his interest.

Not ten minutes after Wisdom entered the library a pure white coated alicorn, wearing a golden crown and choker with a sun cutie mark, landed just outside the doors. The guards kneeled before the Solar Princess, who nodded and opened the doors quickly.

"Where is this 'Inner Wisdom' as he calls himself?" the Princess asked, walkling down the hallway, "I assume he's still in the library, unaware that I was coming."

"He should be here," the guard said, entering a room with nopony in sight, "Maybe he passed through the doorway that leads to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing?"

The Princess thought about it and considered that the mysterious stallion already seemed like Pinkie Pie in some ways. If they had similar abilities then it wouldn't be hard for him to appear at random and pass through entire walls at will. So she turned around and approached the doorway, opening it to find a pegasus stallion reading a book without the use of magic. That was just more evidence that he was like Pinkie Pie.

"Mister Inner Wisdom?" she asked, the stallion looking up from the book, "I'm sure you realize exactly who I am?"

"Your Princess Celestia," Wisdom replied, closing the book and laying it on the ground, "the Solar Princess. To what do I own the pleasure of meeting you?"

"I had the guards keep a lookout for ponies with similar abilities to Pinkamena Diane Pie," Princess Celestia stated, "and you seem to have those abilities."

"That is very interesting," Wisdom said, appearing right behind Celestia, "but unfortunately my friends are waiting for me at the station and I can't keep them waiting. See ya around."

Before Princess Celestia could stop him Wisdom ran behind a bookshelf and vanished instantly, no poofs or magic used. Celestia was used to this happening when dealing with the actual Pinkie Pie, but now there was a second pony she had to deal with. At least she knew exactly where he was headed.

"Report to the station as soon as possible," she commanded the guards, who saluted her as she turned to leave, "I will catch Inner Wisdom and his friends before they can leave Canterlot."

Rocket shook his head in disbelief. The Ticketmaster had told him that it would be five bits per pony for a ticket to Ponyville. Sounds simple. Well, he needed to find a shop where they could sell what little they had so they could purchase said tickets. Again, sounds simple. What threw a giant wrench into the plan was that the Ticketmaster asked him and his friends for their names, which actually caused the other two to start freaking out. And Jacob was still nowhere to be seen.

"Will you please calm your flanks for a second," he shouted, stepping out of the line and making the two chaotic ponies stop with his magic, "We can't be panicking because you can't come up with a name. I bet that Jacob has already come up with his name."

"When you put it that way your right," the mentioned pegasus said, popping out of nowhere inside the ticket booth, "and I've got identification cards for all three of you."

"Let me see those," the Ticketmaster said, pulling the cards out of his hooves with magic, "Ah yes, here we are. One earth pony mare by the name of Peachy Keen, one unicorn stallion by the name of Tick Tock, one pegasus by the name of Inner Wisdom, and another unicorn by the name of Rocket Sky. That last one doesn't seem to fit."

"That's easy to explain," Wisdom said, speaking up before Rocket could stop him, "His parents were hoping for a pegasus and were unwilling to change his name when they found out he was a unicorn."

"I see," the Ticketmaster said, returning the cards before turning towards Rocket, "Now then, like I was saying earlier it will be twenty bits to get the four of you to Ponyville. There is a shop not too far up the street that you can sell anything at and you could make the amount if you got something of value. The shopkeeper accepts everything, but his prices may not be to your liking."

"Oh, we have something to trade," Wisdom said, holding up a small ruby that glistened in the sunlight, "Will this cover the cost of our four tickets?"

For a couple of seconds the Ticketmaster was silent, his eyes locked on the ruby in Wisdom's hoof. It he moved it the stallion's eyes would follow it. When Wisdom repeated the question the stallion seemed to come out of his daze and really focused on him.

"It more than covers the cost of the tickets," the stallion happily said, taking the gemstone in his magic and returning seconds later with a small bag of coins and four tickets, "Next train leaving for Ponyville doesn't leave for another ten to fifteen minutes."

Rocket nodded and accepted the tickets while his friend took the rest of the coins. They joined the rest of their friends by a bench, though Peachy seemed to be staring at the sky while Tick had somehow found a guitar and was plucking some nameless tune.

"We have tickets to Ponyville," Rocket announced, the two slightly cheering, "and our official pony names. Jacob here is Inner Wisdom, Yves is Tick Tock, and Momo, your Peachy Keen."

"What kind of a name is Tick Tock?" the bald unicorn asked, "I was thinking I'd go with something more artistic."

"It is what I came up with on the spot," Wisdom stated, taking a seat next to his friends, "Either deal with it or don't, I honestly don't care. Soon we'll be heading to Ponyville and we'll be out of Celestia's hairs."

"What about you?" Peachy said, looking over at Rocket, "What sort of name did Wisdom give you?"

"I am Rocket Sky," he answered, "the unicorn whose parents were hoping for a pegasus and were unwilling to change the name when they found out."

"Our names fit us as most pony names fit their bearers," Wisdom stated, chuckling softly to himself as a train rolled into the station, "exactly like I thought they would. I prepared for this day ever since FIM appeared on tv."

"Please don't talk about that," Rocket said, glad that the only ponies around them were near the Ticketmaster, "We seriously don't need anypony thinking that we're from another world. Let's get on this train and get away from Canterlot."

Once the doors of the train opened the group quickly made their way into the compartment and took a couple of seats near the front. They had a good view of the rest of the room and the ponies that they would be sharing the rest of the trip with. To their relief it didn't look like there were many making the trip with them, so they ended up sharing the room with at least another five ponies. Wisdom, however, stared out the window and watched the guards appear in the distance.

"Oh tell me you didn't do something stupid Wisdom," Peachy said, noticing the guards.

"Oh, all I did was visit the library and brush up on my history," Wisdom replied, the doors silently closing and the train starting to roll out before they arrived, "Apparently there is an order to watch out for ponies that share the abilities of Pinkie Pie."

Rocket sighed and stared out his window, watching the castle scenery change to that of actual nature. Seeing actual nature relaxed his mind from the troubles that his friend, at least one of them, was causing. Besides, Tick was still practicing on his guitar and Peachy was staring at something on her side of the train. Maybe life in Equestria wouldn't be too bad, Rocket thought, as long as his friends didn't spoil the fun.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle

It has come to my attention that four ponies have arrived in Canterlot from who knows where. They each seem to have a vast amount of knowledge dealing with Canterlot and pony life. They managed to board the latest train to Ponyville before my guards could get to them and they are on their way. Three of them, as far as I could tell from the Ticketmaster, pose absolutely no threat to our security. The fourth I am unsure of, but he seems to be similar to Pinkie, so I will take no action against them.

As they are about to enter your territory I am leaving them in your capable hooves. I have included a list of names that the Ticketmaster gave me so you could identify them when they deboard the train. Please excuse the absence of any descriptions, but I am sure you'll figure out who each of the four are quickly. Please pass on my regards to the rest of your friends and Spike. Luna should be there in a couple of days for Nightmare Night, so be expecting her this time.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia