A Canterlot Symphony
Act 3

Imagine this.

An 18 year old boy wearing a red & blue scarf, running through the streets of Canterlot with a colt that is grinning like mad on his head and a box under his arm, being chased by ponies wearing armor while heading for the castle that resides in the center of the city.

In a strange way it reminds me of home.

I had been running for a while now. I think it was about.....10-15 minutes. Some Pegasi had flown from the chase to grab some clouds to put out the fire Choc's crusading had caused. I just got to my second trip around the city when another swear pierced the sound barrier.

“BBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!”

Chocolate leaned forward in front of my face, blocking my line of sight. "Mr. James? What does bull-" I pushed him back onto my head and kept running.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHEN YOU'RE OLDER!" As I ran past the destruction for a third time, I got a good look at it. Dang Choc can do some damage, even lit the stone on fire. I'm not sure if I should be scared or proud of the kid..... Scared. Definitely scared with a hint of pride.

"Halt... In the name of....the princesses...." The guards shouted after me. Must be getting tired after chasing me for so long. Right then, a stray thought managed to worm its way into my brain.

'wait... I was the wimpiest guy in my class. How the fuck am I out-running trained soldiers?' I shook the thought out of my head soon after and made a left turn straight through the city. There were no guards in front of the gates when I got there because the first attempt at entry made them chase me along with the rest of the guards. I ran straight for the castle doors and burst through them. I quickly slammed the doors shut and pressed my face against it to rest. I was panting as all the running finally caught up to me. Chocolate was still on my head and was starting to tremble.

"What the matter Choc-" I stopped talking as I realized that I was surrounded by spears pointed at me. "Oh.....um....Hi?" The guards just glared at me and raised a spear to my jugular. But it seemed that luck was on my side for once, as a booming voice scared the guards shitless.

"GUARDS! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" The volume of her voice was enough to make Chocolate nearly fall off of my head. The guards and myself turned to see a displeased, midnight-blue Alicorn in regalia trotting up to us. The guards (except the ones holding me at spear point) gave an immediate bow.

"P-princess Luna, this human broke into the castle an-" The guard was interrupted as Luna boomed a second time, which successively knocked him off my head. He did however manage to grab my scarf, turning it into a makeshift noose.

"HE DID NO SUCH ACT! WE INVITED HIM FOR AN AUDIENCE WITH US!" The guards lowered the spears and started to back away. I lowered my torso enough that Chocolate was touching the ground and he hid behind my legs. This made Luna have a sympathetic smile for the colt. "T'is alright young one, thou art not in trouble." Chocolate looked like he was about to cry. I knelt down and put my hand on his back. This made him look up at me and I gave him a nod. He turned back to the princess and hung his head.

"I'm sorry." Luna looked at him with a gentle smile.

"We are sure whatever thou did isn't as bad as our guards are making it." I glanced around nervously, I hope that the whole 'destruction of a fifth of the town' thing didn't come back to bite my current standing with the royals. Even though it wasn't my fault. I managed to hide my fears with a stupid grin that I had mastered years ago as the princess looked upon me. "Now you must be this 'James' I have heard of?" I decided to try and be formal so I wouldn't end up in a dungeon.

"That would be correct your highness. I am James Fredric Hindenburg; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." I even gift wrapped it with a bow as I finished, which made Luna gave a chuckle at my royal tone.

"You needith not be so formal. Now come, our sister awaits thine presence." We obliged and set off after the Alicorn of the night. The walk was silent for the most part, Luna did ask why I had a kid with me and I explained that he jumped in on the ride. Chocolate stayed close to me every time we passed a guard post or passerby. I was fascinated by all of the detail that was put into everything there. I know it was a palace but DAYUM was it elaborate. We soon reached the throne room (or at least I think it was) and we beheld who I assumed was the princess of the sun sitting at a small table. I gave another bow before the white Alicorn, making Luna shake her head as she sat next to her sister who was just staring in my general direction with a small frown. The other princess apparently was so deep in thought; she didn't seem to notice me or anything else at all until her sister nudged her back into reality. She blinked a couple times before sighing.

"Please let this one be better than Sarah Luna, is this the guest you invited?" Luna gave a curt nod and joined her sister at the table. The white Alicorn motioned for me to take a seat across from them, so I obliged and Chocolate sat on my lap. "So you're the 'James' I've heard about from my student?"

"That would be correct your highness. My name is James Fredric Hindenburg, and my young friend here is Chocolate Apple." Choc gave a shy wave when I mentioned him. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Princess..." The princess smiled and set down her tea.

"Celestia, Princess Celestia." I grabbed a cup to get a drink but noticed that there was a bite taken out of the porcelain.

"Uh, should I even ask..?" Celestia shook her head as she went to pour herself another cup but the teapot was already empty. The door opened soon after and some servers came in with fresh tea. Made me wonder if they were spying on us....... Schme. We all poured ourselves some tea (Except Chocolate, he got a soda from the maids. The kid seriously needs to turn his swag off) and had some idle conversation. Luna was the one to start our latest topic.

"If it is not too much trouble sir James, we would like to hear thine story of how you arrived in Equestria. We have heard one other and it was.." Luna shuddered for a moment "...unpleasant." I made a small frown at the mentioning of the event, but I knew that it would come up sooner or later. I looked down towards Chocolate and he seemed confused by my change in demeanor.

"Certainly, but I'd like to ask if we could speak in private." I picked Chocolate up and placed him down next to me. "Chocolate, would you do me the favor of distracting those pesky maids that are sitting outside the door?" Hooves could be heard scurrying away as a single maid opened the door for him with a blush. Celestia chuckled as the door closed and her horn lit up. The room was bathed in a yellow aura as she finished casting her spell.

"The room has been sound-proofed. Nopony can hear anything from us for now." I smiled gratefully.

"Thank you Celestia. Now where do I start. I was out hunting with my sister Amy when I suddenly blacked out..."

"....Afterwards I was placed in the desert near Appleloosa the way that I am now. I've got to say, that town is amazing." I leaned forward on the table as I finished my story. I think one of them mumbled something about how weird my death was. Luna looked somewhat uncomfortable with how I described my death, and Celestia probably wasn't fairing much better, but she had one good poker face so I couldn't tell.

"What was your life like before you became a wraith? If you don't mind my asking." I smiled and stared into my tea.

"I had a good life for the most part. My parents loved me and my brothers for the first 12 years of my life and my foster parents took good care of us." Celestia paused for a moment to digest what I had said. I knew what she was going to ask about already. I'd heard it too many times to count over the last six years. All of the DAMN FALSE SYMPATHY from others who pretended to care.

"First twelve? Did something happen?" Called it. I took a deep breath as I started to tell the story that I'd had to tell more times than I'd have liked to.

"When I was 12 years old my dad went missing for months. When they found him he'd been dead since a week after he vanished and the guy responsible died of a stroke three days ago. My mom was so heartbroken that she just lost the will to live. Ended up dying in her sleep from the stress and emotional pain." A tear rolled down my cheek and landed in my drink, but I kept the tale going.

"We were put in social services for two years, home after home of rotten people using us for money or some other form of gain. Then this elderly couple found us and managed to take all three of us in over time. I went from the eldest of three, to the middle child of seven. I had four new siblings, two of which were new sisters. Amy was the oldest of them and was the only direct descendant of the Hindenburg line. Most of my new family was adopted as well and it made things easier to cope with. They may not have been blood related but they were the greatest family I could have asked for." I took a swig of tea and sighed.

"Well that's all the secrets I have to tell. The sound spell won't be needed anymore." Celestia removed the spell, while Luna wiped her eyes. She had been crying freely since I had started. I got up to stretch my legs, as the princesses had gotten themselves into a more presentable state. I walked over to the entrance to open the door and Choc came back inside faster than I had ever seen him move. When I saw the reason why, I started snickering. He was covered in big. Red. Kisses. The kid needs to learn how to turn his swag off. "You have fun with the castle staff kid?" Choc glared at me while I busted out laughing, but his glare turned into a grin.

"You won't be laughing once I tell the princess about last Tuesday!" I gasped at the threat. He was going to tell them that! I still need to pay the sheriff back!

"You. Wouldn't. Dare." He grinned and ran up to Celestia and beckoned her over. I tried to stop him but Celestia started to lift me into the air as she gave Choc her ear. He started whispering that dreaded days events into her ear canal and she almost lost her poker face for a different reason as her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. Luna had leaned in when he started and was now rolling on the floor clutching her sides.

"TH- THOU DID ALL THAT.... WITH JUST A......A SANDWICH!?" I blushed like mad and she laughed harder. Celestia was laughing as well, just more controlled.

"I was wondering what that paper was about." My confused look made her laugh more as she hovered a newspaper towards me. As I read the front page my face burned.

ACCIDENT IN APPLELOOSA DESTROYS BARN

Last Tuesday in the small settlement of Appleloosa, an entire barn was destroyed by a strange explosion that erupted from inside. The culprit responsible has has remained unnamed but has apologized and will be paying for damages. His claim as to why this happened was that he was trying to make himself some lunch.

I sighed in defeat, while slumping into my pillow/seat. I was about to excuse myself when I felt something in my pocket. I pulled out the letter that was addressed to the princesses.

"I almost forgot, I believe this is for you two." Celestia and Luna took the letter and opened it. Luna aww'd at the letter and Celestia's smile grew ever so slightly. Getting up again me and choc were just outside the doorway when Celestia stopped us.

“If you need a place to stay there are a variety of hotels in the city, One of the cheaper ones should be a couple streets down if you take a right when you leave the castle. It’s a nice and humble place perfect for when traveling with younger companions.” I gave her a final thanks and picked up Chocolate before leaving the castle.

After I got lost and followed some directions that some local passerby gave me, the hotel was sitting before us. It looked a tad out of place from the rest of the city. The place looked more like a cottage than a hotel. As we entered, a small bell jingled and a light green mare that was working on something behind the counter turned around with her eyes closed, giving off a bright smile.

“Welcome to the Hummingbird Inn, How may I help you- oh!” She stopped what I assumed was her signature introduction when she opened her eyes and saw me. I just gave a light chuckle.

“Excuse me but, how much would a single room be?” She was stock still for a moment more before she regained her composure.

“That will be 20 bits” I reached into my pocket and found that I had just enough to afford the room and maybe some breakfast tomorrow. I paid her and took Choc up to the room. We got a room with two beds so I put him down on on the one farthest from the door. Choc yawned before he climbed under the covers. I couldn’t help but smile as I climbed into my own bed and gave one last glance at him.

Cause for a moment it wasn't Choc sleeping there, but my youngest brother Tommy.

I laid on that bed for who knows how long thinking about my family back home. Mom and Dad would be hit hard from losing not just me, but their only direct child. And how would Jake handle being there for Tommy. No matter what I tried to think about I couldn’t get off of the topic. In the end before I passed out into a dreamless sleep, only one thought came to mind.

God, how I miss them.

Meanwhile, a solitary figure with long brown hair, dressed in a silver-blue t-shirt and grey slacks, and a compound bow draped over her shoulder, overlooked the royal city as it was bathed in the moonlight. She sat in her perch amongst the trees, while fiddling with her wolf necklace as she watched a cottage like building for signs of activity.

“He’s somewhere in this city, right?” Death floated behind her as he rested his hand on her shoulder.

“Yes, but know that I don’t normally do this sort of thing. His mind, however, is unstable and He needs someone familiar nearby to help him cope. Otherwise, not even I know what will happen.” She stood and hopped down from her post and cracked her neck.

“Don’t you worry James” Her green eyes gleamed she turned her head to her new destination.

“Your big sis is here.”

Author's Note

I derped for about a minute until I saw that I forgot the amount of money for the room. That should explain the update shpeal.

Anyways MYSTERY CHARACTER can you guess who? Oh and fellow wraiths, DO NOT SPOIL THIS FOR THE READERS!!