The Canterlot Air-docks were buzzing with activity, as per usual. The dock workers going about their business, loading and unloading cargo, travelers negotiating fares with the captains of the ships, tourists gawping at the city's spires, and the ships themselves tied to the piers that make up the air-docks, some waiting to get on their way, others waiting to be cleaned of the various debris that they pick up on a voyage, and others waiting for lord some-and-such's luggage to be loaded so they can have their playthings onboard in case they get bored.
Of course, all of this buzziness stopped as soon as a certain pony made an entrance, though, to be fair, it's not every day that you get to see an honest ghost-ship roll into port. Its hull so full of holes it would have fallen through the fog-bank keeping it aloft had it been anything other than a ghost ship, the tatters drooping off of the masts making for poor excuses for sails, but again, ghost ship. The bow sporting the visage of a dragon's skeleton going well with the whole 'undead' theme, along with the 40 odd cannon ports on each side, the whole thing just screamed, "I'm not alive, and soon you won't be either!"
And I suppose I should get to the thing that was out of place on the ship, a pony, that was alive, and not dead in the slightest. A pony that was sleeping on the bow railing as the ship pulled in. A pony that was awoken by the terrified screams of ponies that thought that they were going to be crushed by the ship as it drew too close too fast to realistically be able to stop. But as soon as the recently awoken pony realized where he was, the ship merely stopped moving, again, ghost-ship.
This pony was average in stature, if a little skinny, his coat was a light blue-gray, his unkempt mane was a bright sea-blue, with black streaks centered on either side, his tail was of the same coloration and style, his eyes were a soft blue-almost-purple-but-not behind a small pair of rectangle lensed glasses, around his neck was a simple gold colored scarf that was long enough to trail on the ground wherever he walked, and his cutie mark was a cartoon sheet-ghost, symbolizing his ability to see, and freely interact with, the spirits of the dead.
Wesley Rothak (Roh-thack) was this pony's name, and he was on his way to the palace for an audience with the royal pony sisters, though he wasn't sure if the guards that surrounded him as soon as he stepped off of his ship would hasten or hinder him.
Wesley was bored, so very, very bored. He never, in all his life could have imagined how boring a dungeon cell could be. Though it was rather comfortable; the dark, the smell of mildew, and the rusted bars on the door reminding him of home.
He had been waiting in the cell for three hours, sitting on the hard cot bolted to the wall for most of the wait, before a guard came to collect him for a meeting with the Princesses.
He assumed for his supposed crime of necromancy, as the guards that originally brought him there accused him of. Though he really couldn't blame them for being spooked, his ship was a bit on the creepy side.
When the guard opened the cell door, with a simple order of "follow," the gray stallion was only too happy to comply, trotting out the door as if he had not just been sitting in the darkest, most oppressive cell that they had available for the last three hours, a slight smile on his face, and a slightly disturbed guard leading him to the princesses.
On the way to the throne room the guard was completely silent, except for the clopping sound his hooves made on the marble floors of the decorated halls of the palace, and Wesley was fine keeping that silence, lost in thought as he was. Most of those thoughts centering around what he would have replaced the decorations in the hall with, mostly involving cob webs, chains, and skulls, but that matters not.
As they neared a pair of doors with an emblem depicting a pair of alicorns, one white with a pink mane and the other dark blue with a lighter colored mane circling a sun/moon, Wesley began focusing on what he was going to say to the princesses of the sun and moon, mostly concerning his presence in the city in the first place.
When they got closer to the door, the unicorn guards standing on either side of the door opened it with a thought and glowing horns. Revealing the throne room of the royal pony sisters, the red carpet stretching on until it touched the bottom of the dias, upon which sat two thrones, one of white marble with veins of gold running throughout, the other with obsidian, veined with silver. And upon the thrones sat the princesses of night and day respectively, Celestia with a motherly smile, and Luna just looked bored.
As Wesley advanced, the guard that had accompanied him there staying at the door, he couldn't help but marvel at the windows, stained glass depicting important events in pony history, nearly all of them concerning six mares wearing fancy jewelry.
When he finished gawking at the pretty colors, and sat down at the base of the dias, he noticed Luna visibly perk, as her sister leaned over a whispered something in her ear.
"Greetings my little pony, do you know why you're here?" Celestia asked, still wearing the same motherly smile as when he first saw her.
"Because I sent a letter asking for an audience?" The stallion replied, raising a questioning eyebrow at the princess.
"Nay, t'was a report of disturbance of the peace, and suspected necromancy that brought ye before us." Luna answered. "Now, may we ask thine name before we hear thine defense?" she continued with an interested gaze.
"Wesley Rothak, Your highness. And you're sure you didn't get a letter, probably delivered by a 'Miss Do' likely after she delivered an artifact of considerable value to the Canterlot Museum of Ancient History?" He said, noting how Princess Celestia's eyes widened slightly when she heard his name, her smile still present.
"Rothak. It has been years since I heard that name, tell me, how is it that a pony was accepted into the most militaristically powerful clan in griffic history?" Luna questioned, honestly curious.
"I was dropped on their doorstep as a foal, and I would appreciate it if you could answer my question, your highness." the pony said, slightly miffed at not getting an answer.
"Aye, we received thine request, but thou be'est present for judgment for crimes accused, not to exchange pleasantries with mine sister. If I judge you innocent, then thee may have thine audience, but until that time, thou be'est on trial." Luna said, unsatisfied with his answer, glaring slightly at the pony.
Summoning a scroll in a cloud of blue magic, Luna read the charges against the pony. "Now, thine accusations stand as such; ye hath caused panic amongst the ponies upon thine arrival, resulting in various minor injuries, and approximately 80 bits worth of property damage. Thine... 'Ship' hath been docked in a reserved port without proper payment to the dockmaster, incruing a debt of 20 bits for the reservation stolen, in addition to the normal docking fee of 10 bits per day, ye are under suspicion of various forms of necromantic summoning, and the royal jailer hath filed several noise complaints concerning your... singing.
"The punishments for such will be paying for all expenses and a time of community service, or if thou art unwilling, or unable to pay for thine expenses, an extended period of service is applicable. What say ye in thine defense?" She finished, closing the scroll, and looking at the pony in question.
"Well, first off princess, I'm not to blame for being unable to pay for docking my ship, seeing as I was arrested literally as soon as I stepped hoof off of it."
"... Very well, thine fine of 10 bits for the docking fee shall be rescinded, but thou shalt still be held responsible for theft of reservation. Continue."
"As for my singing, I was bored, and I don't think it was really that bad."
"The royal jailer said that it was the single most disturbing thing that he had ever heard."
"Isn't my fault he has a weak constitution."
"... You sung a lullaby about ripping out the spines of your enemies and gorging yourself on their internal organs."
"I was raised by a clan of griffon warmongers, violence was pretty much my entire foalhood. And that one was my favorite when I was a foal, he should be happy that I took the time to translate it to Equish for him." The pony said, raising a hoof to point indignantly at the princess.
"That as the case may be, disturbing as it is, the charge yet stands, place thine hoof on the floor and make thine next plea of innocence."
He did so.
"Alright then. I don't see how I'm responsible for ponies injuring themselves and breaking things because my ship scared them."
"We will admit that our little ponies are ... Excitable, but that does not excuse thine role in the damages they caused." Luna responded with a sigh.
"My role in the damages they caused is that I scared them, I didn't break anything or hurt anyone myself."
"We know this, which is why thine sentence for such was a fine, and not time spent in the dungeons. If thine wish it to be, we can arrange for the charge to be changed to assault upon several ponies, resulting in 5 years in the dungeons, if thee wouldst prefer it?"
"Naw, that's okay princess, thank you for offering, but I think I'll just pay the fine." He said with a grin and a dismissive wave of his hoof.
"Very well, thine last charge is that of necromantic summoning, not as severe as necromancy itself, which would have seen you executed, but enough to gain you the time in the dungeons that you seem to desire so."
"Okay then princess, I just have one question. What's the difference?"
"The difference between what?"
"Necromancy and necromantic summoning, to me it sounds like necromantic summoning is a subdivision of necromancy, or would be if it were a legitimate school of magic, yet you speak of it as if they were completely different. So what's the difference?"
"The difference, our little pony, is that necromancy is to force a soul into a body that has no choice but to obey the necromancer's will, necromantic summoning is to use the essence of a spirit to create something, like your ship, which is obviously spirit in nature, was created using energy from like beings. Does that explain it sufficiently?"
"Yes, Yes it does princess, and I'm actually innocent of that."
"How so?"
"It was a gift."
"Surely thou take us for a fool, only the summoner of such things may touch them. So we ask again, how art thou innocent of this offense?"
"My special talent lets me freely interact with the spirits of the dead, ships included, and said ship was a gift from my clan."
"Very well, should thine words ring true we shall not pass judgment for this crime, but before that, we must ask. What is thine plan to prove this to us?"
"That's a simple matter princess, I'm going to punch a ghost."
"And how art thou going to d-" She was interrupted when Wesley jabbed a hoof to his side, making a dull thud and showing the silhouette of a pony being launched away from him.
He then trotted over to where the silhouette disappeared, and stomped a hoof on the flagstones, causing a screeching wail to sound throughout the chamber, as the silhouette pony, that was visible to the princesses again, was exploded before the disconnected bits of ghost were absorbed by his scarf.
"Does that prove my statement princess?" He asked when he was seated at the foot of the dias again, a grin on his face when he saw the shocked expression on Princess Luna's face, though it fell a little when he noticed that the Princess of the Sun was still looking at him with that motherly smile, seemingly unaffected by his display.
Until she blinked a couple times and looked to her sister, seeing the wide eyed look on Luna's face she said. "It would seem that I missed something rather important, care to fill me in dear sister?"
