The After Party

by Blackdrag-rose

III: Questions and Answers

Dear Princess Celestia,

Let me get this straight. Four unknown ponies found themselves in Canterlot and were able to leave within an hour because the guards were unable to get to them fast enough? And your telling me that there is another pony in Equestria that has the powers of Pinkie Pie? Not to mention that they are already heading in my direction to where I reign, if you count making sure Ponyville doesn't destroy itself as ruling, so they're a part of my small area or something?

Me and the girls are currently waiting at the train station for the arrival of the four ponies and you should see Rainbow Dash right now. I knew she gets excited when she hears about the Wonderbolts and other flyers coming to town, but this time it is very different. This pony, the one named Rocket Sky as you mentioned, had her so excited that she thinks she's got a new flyer to compete against.

"Come on already you stupid train," the cyan pegasus mare next to Twilight said, interrupting her train of thought, "Arrive already so I can meet the pegasus named Rocket Sky."

"Now hold your horses Rainbow," the orange farmpony said, "I know your excited and all, but think back to the letter Princess Celestia sent Twilight not too long ago. She didn't give us any information of the four ponies that are coming."

"So?" Rainbow asked, barely paying attention anyway.

"So the one your waiting for might not be a pegasus I reckon," Applejack said, "That is my opinion and I'm sure somepony else might agree with me."

"Oh, oh, pick me Applejack," the overly excited pink pony, Pinkie Pie, said as she bounced up and down, "I can agree on anything, but what about the party for the new arrivals? I wonder what theme I should use since four are coming. Should I use streamers or is that too much like a birthday party since this is a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party? Oh, I don't know and my head is starting to swim and maybe I should bake some extra sweets in case we run out early..."

"I will agree on the name situation," a white mare, Rarity, spoke up, "I mean its not like we could be wrong and this Rocket Sky really is a pegasus that can go up against our Rainbow Dash. But then again we could be right and he's either a earth pony or a unicorn."

"Nah, he's definitely a pegasus," Rainbow said, narrowing her eyes as she spotted a train in the distance, "and we, by that I mean him and I, can do stunts that even the Wonderbolts will envy."

"I...umm...think he might be a pegasus," the yellow pegasus mare, Fluttershy, softly said, "but its okay if you disagree with me. I don't mind."

Twilight Sparkle sighed and lifted a hoof to her head, shaking her head as she listened to her friends drone on and on about whether or not the pony was a pegasus. If this had happened a few weeks ago when she was still a normal unicorn then she would have barely paid it any mind and would left it alone. But thanks to her ascension to the status of being an alicorn like Princess Celestia, Luna, and her old foalsitter Cadence, she kind of had to make sure the ponies were safe. She left the argument of whether Rocket Sky was a pegasus to her friends, which meant that, thanks to Rarity's split answer, they couldn't reach a majority without her picking a side.

When the train finally came to a stop her friends finally stopped talking as Twilight placed er writing materials and unfinished letter away in her saddle bag. As ponies began to file off the train she kept an eye out for any that didn't fit in with the crowd, which was hard since most were like that anyway. Eventually she spotted a pony and was kind of shocked by what she saw. The first of the four ponies was a sherbert coated mare with a light pink mane, but what was odd was the lack of a cutie mark on her flank.

The second pony was a light brown coated unicorn stallion with a black colored tail, minus the mane for some reason, and a bent clock. The third pony that stepped off the train was a bright red coated pegasus stallion with a green mane, his cutie mark being a strange circle colored black and white.

"Oh yeah, its him at last," Rainbow said excitedly, pointing at the pegasus, "Your the one named Rocket Sky right?"

"No," the stallion answered, which seemed to lower her spirits, "I am Inner Wisdom. These are my friends Tick Tock and Peachy Keen. Rocket Sky is actually right behind me."

Rainbow looked at the pony behind Wisdom and Twilight could tell that her hopes were broken yet again. The pony in question was a dark blue coated unicorn stallion with a light blue mane that had strands of a darker blue intertwined. His cutie mark was a quill, which must have meant that he was some sort of writer.

"Your kidding me," Rainbow said, "Rocket Sky is a unicorn?"

"I'm afraid so," Applejack said, "but I did tell you that you shouldn't expect a name to tell you much about the pony its attached to."

One second Rainbow Dash was floating next to Applejack and the next she was gone, a multi colored trail disappearing towards a house in the sky. She was clearly upset that her hopes had been ruined, but Twilight thought that Wisdom, seeing how he WAS a pegasus, could fill the void for her. But that plan would have to wait for later, when she had calmed down and could deal with the hard truth that Rocket wasn't a pegasus.

"I did tell her the truth," Applejack said, "but I guess the truth does hurt sometimes. Pardon my manners, the names Applejack..."

"Member of the Apple Family and worker of Sweet Apple Acres," Wisdom said,throwing the mare off guard.

"Well I'll be, he's heard of you Applejack," Rarity said, "Well, if you know her then who are the rest of us?"

"You'll be surprised by how much I know," Wisdom answered, "Are you sure you want to go down this path?"

"Try me," Rarity said, earning a sigh from Twilight.

"You are Rarity, owner of the Carousel Boutique," Wisdom said, moving down the line, "We've got Rainbow Dash, head of Ponyville's weather team, Fluttershy, caretaker of animals, and Pinkie Pie, pastry maker for the Sugarcube Corner. Last, but not least, is Twilight Sparkle, the used to be librarian of Golden Oaks Library and now a Princess of Equestria."

"See Rarity, he knows all of us already," Twilight said, keeping her eye on Wisdom as she turned around, "Let's go to the library and see what else they might know."

Rocket silently cursed his friend for revealing how much they already knew on the mane six. It was only a matter of time before he revealed that they were from another world that was so unlike Equestria. Tick picked up his instrument and strung it across his back while Peachy was watching the entire town. Rocket sighed and thanked the fact that he was keeping a clear head and not freaking out.

The five mares were silent as they lead the four into the heart of Ponyville and eventually arrived at the library. Spike, the baby dragon who had been living with Twilight for so many years, was waiting for them inside. He clearly expected his six friends to arrive after meeting the four ponies from Canterlot, so when he noticed his friends, minus Rainbow, and the four he was surprised.

"I wasn't expecting you to bring them home Twilight," Spike said, stretching slightly, "What changed that?"

"Mister Inner Wisdom here knows more than he should," Rarity said, taking a seat near the dragon, "all without us even introducing ourselves."

"Isn't that common already?" the dragon asked, "You guys defeated three major villains and helped defend Canterlot during an invasion. Not to mention that Twilight is a Princess now."

"Quiet Spike," Twilight said, letting the four ponies remain standing while her friends took a seat, "I need to ask you four some questions before you are allowed to leave. Where are the four of you from?"

Rocket could feel the tension in the air as his friends tried to figure out where they should say they were from. He knew that Tick and Peachy had no idea what to say and Wisdom was likely to make up something just to make the questions stop eventually. He knew it was going to ride on his answers to get them through the questions that Twilight had planned for them.

"Trottingham," Rocket said, not surprised that his friends nodded as soon as the word left his mouth.

"How did you come to awaken in Ponyville?"

An odd question, but on they'd have to answer anyway.

"We had a party a few days ago," Rocket answered, remembering the event just a bit, "I don't know what we took, but when we woke we were in Canterlot with no idea how we got there."

"Do any of you pose a threat to the security of Canterlot, Ponyville, or the rest of Equestria?"

"I can only answer for myself on this one," Rocket said, sweat rolling down the side of his head, "but I pose no threat to anypony."

His friends voiced their responses, which turned out to be the exact same thing that Rocket had said. Didn't surprise him since he knew that none of them posed a threat to anypony anywhere.

"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?"

"Well that's easy," Wisdom started, "We...humth..."

Twilight was surprised to see that Rocket's magic activated quickly and literally zipped his friend's mouth shut, silencing his answer before it left his mouth.

"What he means is that we read the newspapers quite frequently," Rocket lied, hoping that Applejack didn't detect his lie, "and so we read about you, the Elements of Harmony, and all the stuff you've done."

Twilight was silent, watching the four ponies stand there while she mauled over the answers she had been given thus far. Rocket Sky had answered the majority of her questions and he seemed like the leader of his group, which was odd since she figured Wisdom would have been the leader. They were a confusing bunch of ponies that made her head hurt.

"Time for individual questions," she said, watching Rocket's magic die down and Wisdom's mouth returning to normal, "Miss Peachy Keen, the first is for you. Seeing how you don't have a cutie mark I will ask this; would you like to join a club called the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

For a couple of seconds Peachy was silent, her emotions mixing and leaving her breathless.

"Really?" she silently asked, surprised her voice still worked and receiving a nod from the purple alicorn, "I would love to join them and find my place along side them."

"Good," Twilight said, a stack of papers appearing before her and a quill that she used to write something down, "Now, Mister Tick Tock. Do you have any personal experience with the instrument your carrying on your back?"

"Are you kidding me?" Tick asked, "I used to play the guitar all the time back home."

"Good, because you might want to check with Vinyl Scratch and see if she has an open room," Twilight said, "though I suspect that she and Octavia might be pleased to have another musician in their house.

Mister Inner Wisdom, I trust you know much due to your name?"

"Of course I do," Wisdom said, appearing right next to Pinkie as he said that, "I specialize in the ways of the spirit."

"Until further notice I am assigning you to the care of Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, "and maybe the Cakes will be happy to have another set of hooves working around the bakery."

"Oh yeah," Pinkie exclaimed, holding one of her hooves out, "Epic brohoof time."

"You know it Pinkie," Wisdom said, bumping his hoof into her's.

"I regret it already," Twilight said, turning towards Rocket, "and as for you...I am quite sure you know how to organize a library by author and volume correct?"

"Yeah," Rocket replied, "That is what I did with my books back home."

"Then you will be my assistant," Twilight said, "and the librarian whenever I am not currently available. So if I left for an errand you would be in charge until I were to return."

"And that might be a long time considering your a Princess now," Rocket said, "but I accept your hospitality none the less."

Moments later the groups were leaving the library, leaving Twilight with her new assistant. Pinkie and Wisdom were heading to the bakery to get acquainted with the Cakes, Fluttershy was heading home alone, Applejack was taking Peachy to meet the Crusaders, and Rarity was going to drop off Tick at the house of Vinyl and Octavia. Behind her Spike was filling in the new assistant with how Twilight ran the library and how she organized it. She smiled and fulled out the unfinished letter, taking her quill and putting the finishing touches on it.

Right now Rainbow Dash is pouting due to the discovery that Rocket Sky is not a pegasus, but a unicorn instead. I have questioned the four and they hold no threats to our security, so I have sent them to live in places close by. I will leave a scroll of my discoveries at the bottom so you will know what transpired during our discussion.

I will say this before I tend to my new assistant; Rocket Sky is a unicorn with some strange magic of his own. He claims they are from Trottingham, but i have decided not to push the issue right now. He zipped his friend's mouth shut with his magic, literally zipped it closed. I will be keeping a watchful eye over him and will make sure you know everything that I can find out about them.

Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle

Comments

[Crescent Glaive]

"How did you come to awaken in Ponyville?"
An odd question, but on they'd have to answer anyway.
"We had a party a few days ago," Rocket answered, remembering the event just a bit, "I don't know what we took, but when we woke we were in Canterlot with no idea how we got there."

Small error here. Instead of Ponyville, you mean Canterlot. They woke up in canterlot and not ponyville.
Rocket does say here that they woke up in canterlot, NOT ponyville. not trying be aggressive here. just saying.

But other than that, i like this story and have no complaints so far.