The Scroll of Exalted Ponies

It was Shimmer’s idea not to fly all the way into Chung Do. In her experience, when meeting other ponies for the first time who did not know of your exalted nature, it was best to use more normal ways of travel – unless of course you wanted to really make an entrance, but that would usually just end up scaring the ponies you were meeting, especially if they were primitive tribals.

Landing on a nearby trade road that led north the moment they spotted the most outlying farms surrounding the city, the circle debated exactly how they should approach Chung Do.

Red was worried that after having been gone for so many years that she might get into trouble for coming back, even with the plague going on. Exiled ponies weren't supposed to come back. Shimmer offered to use her shape-shifting powers on Red to make her look like a different pony, but Cash argued against it: “A crisis as big as an outbreak of plague is, in my humble opinion, a perfectly valid reason that a daughter might return to check on the health of parents, no matter the circumstances. You can always excuse yourself that you will leave as soon as the crisis is resolved, but we will need the real you present to get us before the shogun”

Red nodded, understanding the necessity of her presence to get things moving once they got to Chung Do. With that settled Red and Speaker took turns at pulling the wagon the final stretch north to the city.

About ten miles from Chung Do the circle came across a roadblock. Armed ponies in lamellar barding and with helmets bearing a stylized white flower as crest told Speaker who was pulling the wagon at that point to stop and identify himself.
“I am Bright Machine Speaker, retired lookshyan doctor. I heard of the plague and I’m here to help” Speaker said, speaking honestly but without mentioning his supernatural abilities.

One of the pony soldiers manning the roadblock approached Speaker: “We have orders not to let any ponies through until next spring when the sickness in Chung Do should have run its course”

Speaker didn’t have to act or behave in any different way - his medical training experience took over the moment he heard the soldier say that they were essentially keeping other ponies away until everyone was dead in Chung Do: “Do you have any idea how many ponies live in Chung Do? Are you just going to condemn them all to a slow and painful death? Even the most disciplined soldiers from Lookshy know when to disregard their orders when lives are at stake like this!”

The soldier took a few steps back. Speaker hadn’t intended to appear to menacing, but his compassion for the lives of those suffering seemed to have made an impression. An officer mare, if the extra blue decorations on the mare’s helmet were any indication, broke ranks from the roadblock and approached: “We have our orders from Daimyo Crane Lotus to prevent the plague from spreading, and to prevent further loss of life – letting you go in there will only get you killed. The only ponies allowed through are the ones from Sijan, and they’re using the eastern trade road, not coming here from the south”

From behind the shuttered window which faced the ‘forward’ direction of the wagon, Cash peeked out and whispered to Speaker: “He means we could sneak in by joining a corpse caravan from Sijan…”

Speaker shook his head and gave the officer a stern look: “I will take a detour for this. The sick will not wait. My life is my business, now move aside”

Unimpressed the officer turned around and began to calmly trot back to her position at the blockade: “Not my problem. You’re not getting through here”

“Hey Speaker” another whisper said from the shuttered window, this time from Red: “The Crane clan’s land is at the far end of the Chung Lands. Soldiers from nearby nobles quarantining the city would make sense, but not soldiers from this far away – there’s something wrong here”

Speaker untied himself from the reins connecting himself to the wagon, quickly, not caring if the soldier ponies at the roadblock saw the golden glow around the bits of rein being manipulated with his essence as he floated them around. Approaching the shuttered front window of the wagon, Speaker asked Red if she had any idea what might be going on.
“No clue, but it should be ponies at arms from whoever is Daimyo of the Ox clan having soldiers here. It’s almost a month’s travel to the Crane clan’s land from here. If the crane clan has forces near Chung Do... I don’t like this” Red whispered, her hushed voice clearly transmitting her increasing sense of discomfort at the situation.

Speaker looked back at the roadblock. The soldiers there didn’t seem to care or mind that Speaker was conferring with the occupants of the wagon – it was normal for entire families to travel in house-wagons, so they probably thought that Speaker was talking to his family about whether to head south or take the detour around to the eastern trade road. In return Speaker didn’t notice the soldiers chatting and pointing at Speaker.

Turning to face the blockade, Speaker called out: “Why are Crane clan soldiers holding this roadblock? Shouldn’t it be Ox clan soldiers?”

One could hear five simultaneous facehoofs from inside the wagon, followed by Cash noting: “Didn’t I once already tell Speaker not to be the one to talk to strangers? We seriously have to enforce that better”

The officer threw a few quick glances around and nodded at Speaker. Four soldier ponies approached, the officer in front: “Didn’t you say you’re from Lookshy, how do you know we’re Crane?”

Speaker hesitated for a moment as he tried to come up with a quick answer: “I… I have family in Chung Do”

The officer didn’t buy it and gave Speaker a nasty look: “Sure you do. Now who’s in the wagon who knows Chung noble crests? And what was your name again?”

Red exited the wagon and came around to Speaker’s side, already clad in her bright red lamellar armor: “I know the noble crests. I was drilled on them quite a lot when I was a foal”

The officer looked at Red, then glanced at her flank to check her cutie mark – but her lamellar barding covered her flank: “And who’re you?”

“The name is… was… Chung Red, now just Red, exiled daughter of Daimyo Chung

The officer laughed: “Oh this is rich – too rich. The prince-killer anathema and you both here to finish what you started? But tell you what, go to Chung Ko and talk to the Ox clan Daimyo, he’ll be a lot happier to meet the both of you compared to what either of you’ll get in Chung Do”

Speaker was stunned that the officer had heard of him and his being anathema, even if the mare didn’t seem to care that he supposedly a demon-consorting heretic and bane of all that was good and righteous.

Red on the other hoof seemed more focused on who and where the officer was talking about, then she didn’t appear to understand why she should go there: “Why should I go to the Ox Daimyo?”

The officer suppressed a chortle, while most of the dozen or so soldier ponies at the roadblock broke out in scattered laughs: “You don’t know?”

Red look at Speaker who shrugged, then back at the officer: “Apparently not, what is it?”

The officer drew a deep breath and plainly explained that Red’s parents were dead due to the plague and so the title of Shogun had passed to Red’s younger brother Chung Onyx, but the Daimyos had decided that the Chung lands needed better leadership than a foal so they first sent emissaries to Chung Onyx asking him to nominate one of the Daimyos to be shogun instead: “Chung Onyx refused, so now we’re at war – this isn’t just a roadblock to stop the plague from spreading, it’s part of the blockade set up to cut the city off while all the clans marshal their forces at Chung Ko. I’m sure that Daimyo Ox Hoofhorn would let the two of you join his forces, well, at least you Red, Hoofhorn is probably a bit too friendly with the immaculates to let anathema join his army”

Red stumbled backwards, tripped, and landed on her rear. The shocked and dumbfounded look on her face was unmistakable, as were the tears in her eyes. Still, Speaker understood the officer’s proposal: Exiles rarely had any love for those who exiled them, especially if it also meant losing access to your name and family – but it seemed that Red hadn’t held on to such a grudge, indeed the suggestion that she help kill the last of her family seemed to horrify her.

Two seconds later the officer’s head rolled around on the ground, emitting intermittent spurts of blood as it rolled around a few times before coming to a halt. Red was all over the rest of the Crane clan soldier ponies before Speaker was even able to draw breath and say anything.

Seven second later the ten Crane clan soldiers were dead, messily so, Red was glowing with golden light and breathing heavily, the exquisite blade that Speaker had made earlier floating next to her, dripping with blood.

“Honestly this shouldn’t have come as a surprise. This is how the hundred kingdoms work: You prey on the weak and seize whatever opportunities you get to gain more power” Cash noted nonchalantly inside the wagon.

Red made short work of the wooden roadblock, then had Speaker and Sullen Hoof help strip the soldiers of their barding and weapons: “No sense in leaving these for the usurpers… the shogun’s troops can probably use them just as well”

After Sunrise Glow had turned the bodies of the dead soldiers to ash, the circle continued on to Chung Do. Red was trying to keep her emotions in check, but Shimmer ultimately coaxed a good crying session out of the warrior mare, arguing that learning that your parents were dead was a perfectly acceptable reason to feel sad: “Besides, you’ll have to keep your head clear when you meet the new shogun, you know, your brother?”

Red shook her head. Her parents must have had Onyx after she had been exiled, because at that point she and her older brother had been their only foals. Cash pointed out that this was not good: “If all that Onyx has heard about you is that you’ve killed what should have been his older brother, then I don’t think we should expect that warm a welcome… that officer was right about that much”

Sunrise Glow agreed that this might be a problem, but reminded the circle of what the officer had said: “We were told that he is only a foal – not an adult. We must put our faith in Celestia that this Chung Onyx is still young and impressionable enough that we as adults can reason with him”

Cash made a joking remark about how Sunrise Glow could probably make friends with Onyx since they might be just as old – but Sunrise ignored it.

The approach to Chung Do was slow and without any further disruptions. The road they were going on led up to the greater eastern trade road, at which point Cash blurted out that he’d probably been to Chung Do – in fact, he was certain: “Of course, this is where that big old bridge is!”

The bridge was easy to see, as it was a very tall one which reached far above the city walls. It also revealed the strategic location and purpose of Chung Do: The city was built as a crossroad for river and road traffic. The bridge allowed for traffic over a tributary river to the yellow river known as the Brown River, which led all the way from the north-eastern end of the hundred kingdoms to the yellow river.

Sure there were hundreds of other bridges over the river, but the significance of this bridge was that it was a shogunate era bridge big enough to support guild wagons, making Chung Do a key point in the north-eastern hundred kingdoms trade routes. The great eastern trade road wasn’t called that for no reason: It spanned from the avarice river in the north-west end of the hundred kingdoms to the rock river at the eastern end of the hundred kingdoms, so it saw a lot of merchant traffic. The fact that the brown river led all the way down the yellow river, which among other things led to Nexus, made Chung Do a very good place to go if you had exotic goods from the north-east of creation and wanted to sell it at the endless markets of Nexus. Cash Charmer was suddenly very adamant that he got to meet the young foal shogun. Speaker could practically see the silver coins in Cash’s eyes.

“And why do you want to meet my little brother all of a sudden?” Red wondered, not liking the prospect of Cash doing whatever he did to that guild factor to what was left of her family.

Cash briefly gave Speaker a sly look, then smiled gleefully at Red: “My dear friend, correct me if I am wrong, but the wealth of the Chung lands chiefly comes from the taxes and tolls levied against the merchants who come through Chung Do, am I right?”

Speaker wasn’t sure what Cash’s plan was, but after the look Cash had given him, he was all ears. Cash elaborated that the circle’s plan to help the ponies of Chung Do was very good indeed, and with a foal as a shogun they could easily turn him into a puppet ruler with the circle as advisors and protectors. Equally, Cash made a very good point on how this could make their lives far easier in so many other ways: “The merchants who will come through here will hear of us, assuming that we save the place – and they will spread the word that solars saved the city from the plague. The wyld hunt has probably already heard of Speaker thanks to the idiot prince he almost killed after exalting, but if we can pull this off we would undoubtedly not only undo the damage Speaker has done to the overall reputation of solars, but it would improve it greatly. This will let us operate a lot more freely in the hundred kingdoms and anywhere else these merchants end up, and since a lot of them will end up in Nexus the word will eventually spread across creation that solars are good”

Speaker thought Cash’s scheme over for a moment while the rest of the circle was quicker to agree that Cash’s plan sounded very good. Ultimately Speaker agreed that it really was a good point: Getting a good reputation by saving a key part of the hundred kingdom trade routes from plague, the circle would be able to operate a lot more openly – and it would be easier to the wyld hunt that was undoubtedly being formed right now to hunt him down and kill him.

Shimmer did point out that she had tried similar tactics to gain influence in the west – but noted that once you got big enough the wyld hunt would come for you and any supporters you had. The east might not be part of the realm, but wyld hunts could still track you very easily if you left a trail of stories about your deeds for them to follow. Cash agreed, but pointed out that a wyld hunt would be far from the support of the realm while in the hundred kingdoms: “And if they track us to Great Forks, Nexus or Lookshy they won’t even be allowed to enter – so as far as I’m concerned, then when we pull this off we’ll home free”

With their spirits reinvigorated with new purpose the circle set about dealing with a more immediate issue: getting inside the city. The city gates were of thick oak reinforced with wide bands of wrought iron – and it was closed. After shouting for a bit it became clear that there weren't any ponies listening, so there was either nobody around to let them in or the guards were just being dicks.

This all turned out to be a moot point, as the gate slowly creaked and swung opened after Red gave it a hard push. An unguarded and unlocked city gate? This didn't bode well.

Inside the city the circle was met with a strange view: For a city that Red had told housed over twenty thousand ponies, the streets were empty. The only sounds the circle could hear was a mix of hoof-held bells being rung accompanied by strangely accented voices calling out: “Bring out your dead”

Speaker once again reassured the circle that with their exaltations they could not die from plague – they might get ‘slightly debilitated’, but they wouldn't die. With that said, Speaker pulled the wagon through the empty streets towards the bridge over the river.

It was almost like walking in Denansdor again. Speaker could feel the eyes of those watching him from inside the homes and buildings that lined the street, but no ponies dared to come out and greet them. There were no vendors set up along the street, nor did the docks along the banks of the river give off the noise that one should expect from a popular trade route connection point. It was quite sad to trot along the main street: The houses and buildings were primarily wooden, or made with sun-baked bricks, all painted in bright colors. The bright paintwork was a sign of wealth, but without ponies to give life to the streets it might as well be a colourfully decorated graveyard.

As a reprieve from the depressing lack of traffic in the streets, the bridge turned out to be quite impressive. Two large stone towers on both sides of the river held a very thick and sturdy wooden bridge aloft. The bridge was set high enough up that junks with full sails could pass under, although it appeared that most of the ships down in the docks were barged. The wood appeared strangely fresh and not worn, considering how Red had explained that the bridge was over a thousand years old – maybe the shoguns of Chung Do had regular maintenance done on it? Would make sense.

When crossing the bridge one could see all of Chung Do. It was a roughly circular city, centred on the bridge, with endless expanses of farmlands surrounding it. The west side of the city seemed to be mainly large warehouses when you looked beyond the buildings that lined the trade road going through the city, while the east side contained smaller houses and larger tenements where most of the city’s population seemed to live… depending on how much was still alive.

At the southern end of the eastern part of the city the Chung Do castle was situated. It was a very pretty castle, well built, and it showed the wealth of the city. A moat fed by the brown river surrounded the castle and a single white stone bridge connecting it to the city. Above the whitewashed stone walls a grand keep, built as a giant multi-tiered pagoda with gleaming green ceramic tiles projected the might and power of Chung shogun for all to see.

There was a large square where the bridge spanning the river connected to the eastern part of the city, from which a large road went south through that part of the city to another square at the southern end of that half of the city. It was here the castle was located, and it was here that the circle saw their first living ponies in Chung Do: At the large fountain, which appeared to be fed via an aqueduct that crossed the moat and connected to a spot on the castle’s wall, three mares with buckets were collecting water.

They kept their voices quiet and hurried off with their cargo while the circle approached the bridge that led into the castle. As he neared the bridge with the wagon behind him Speaker was hailed by archers on the castle wall on the other side: “Halt! What is your business at castle Chung!?”

Red got out of the wagon and introduced herself, saying she had returned to help save Chung Do. There was a moment of silence, the muffled sound of hooves on stone. An old stallion’s voice sounded: “Let her in – we’ll hear her out inside”

The gates opened and Speaker and Red both pulled the house-wagon into the castle courtyard under the watchful eyes of the archers in evidently green livery on the walls.

The first thing that Speaker noticed as they entered the castle grounds was the sudden change in the air. Suddenly there was a distinct smell of pine in the air, and while there were pine trees along the inside the castle walls for decoration, then they were not enough for the powerful scent of ground pine needles that was in the air.

An old and sturdy looking stallion approached Red. He was clad in lamelar barding and wore bright green livery – and was as big as Speaker. Red seemed to recognize him: “Captain Bighoof, is that you?”

It turned out that Red’s memory of the captain of the castle guard was correct, and the captain seemed surprisingly friendly to Red, asking why she was here and who Speaker was. Red introduced Speaker as a Lookshyan doctor she’d met, and called out the others.

Captain Bighoof approved of her bringing a doctor, stating that they were in very short supply, but seemed apprehensive about the usefulness of the rest of Red’s friends. Red assured him that they all had useful talents, even if they weren’t all doctors. Beyond that then it seemed as if the captain didn’t even care that Red was supposed to be in exile.

The shrill voice of an old mare shouting: “How dare you return!” marked the appearance of another pony, one who clearly did mind that Red had come back.

Red took a deep breath and clearly held back the urgy to shout/punch/decapitate the old mare as she approached, introducing her as Roju Riceflower. The mare was dressed in fine silk garbs fitting that of someone part of the shogun’s court, and Cash noted to Sullen Hoof who looked confused that RoJu was high realm for ‘elder’, so the mare was some kind of old wise-mare the shoguns kept around as advisor. Sullen Hoof, to avoid looking suspicious while inside the city, had earlier used his magic mask to appear as a cream-coated stallion in a brown shirt with a shaven mane, making him look like a servant of some sort.

“Elder Riceflower, I came here when I heard that Chung Do was in trouble – so spare me the indignity or I’ll demand my satisfaction, something I can assure you I am far more capable of getting now compared to last we met” Red said bitterly, sounding very much as if she did not have fond memories of this advisor to the court.

“Satisfaction?” Sullen Hoof again wondered, looking at Cash who was merely nodding to what Red had said.

Cash leaned over and whispered: “Red basically just said that if the old mare gives her lip, Red will challenge her to a duel for her honor – it’s quite common for nobles in the hundred kingdoms to duel whenever they feel insulted”

Sullen Hoof nodded, but doubted that such a duel would be as clean and orderly as those in the Great Forks dueling clubs he’d seen – they always stopped when blood was drawn, but Red looked like she was talking about a duel to the death.

The elder gave Red a poisonous glare, but said nothing beyond that she’d notify the shogun of Red’s presence. Looking at the rest of the circle she disinterestedly inquired in a monotone voice whether any of the ponies present were worth announcing to the shogun, sounding very much as if she would most prefer if they all just got lost.

After the elder mare returned inside the keep Red let out a deep breath: “Oh wow I thought I’d have to really hurt her…”

“What’s her problem?” Shimmer wondered, her quizzical expression revealing that she was already forming ideas of her own on the topic.

Cash sniggered: “She probably hasn’t gotten laid in ages…”

The rest of the looked accusatorily at Cash.

“No I don’t intend to sleep with her” Cash in a mocking tone while looking very disappointed that the circle hadn’t found his joke funny.

A few moments later the elder came out and gestured for the circle to come in.

The keep looked incredible on the outside, even by Speaker’s standards who was used to the wonders employed on a regular basis back home in Lookshy. It was while walking the steps up from the courtyard to the large doorway into the keep that Speaker made the connection: The white stone steps they walked on didn’t give off the sound of hoof on stone – this was subtly carved solid wooden blocks that appeared to have been painted with a special texture-paint. This was not how mortal ponies built castles, but then again castles usually didn’t have a powerful omnipresent pine scent in the air.

This was a manse – a wood aspected manse. Speaker wondered what the exact properties of the manse were as he followed the circle inside. The entrance hall of the keep was that of a grand feasting hall. Two large hearths had bright fires burning in them on the left and right end of the hall relative to the entrance, while along the opposite wall a long dining table seemed built into the floor. Only one chair was set at the table, at the middle of the long table looking at the door – a throne decorated with gold and green jade. The walls and ceiling were covered richly carved wooden panels, all of them combined showing a rich floral motif, although much of the wall decorations were obscured by the bright green tapestries that covered large parts of it. All this green also explained why the livery of the soldiers outside had been green.

The elder led the circle out a door on the right side of the hall into a long hallway, then directed the circle into a lesser hall where a young colt looking barely nine years old sat on a large chair in front of a desk, wearing fine silken garments that were clearly made for an adult stallion, the elder waiting outside.

The colt was evidently being taught statecraft by an older pony, a cream-colored stallion in blue robes who wore one of those silly black hats with a ‘thingy’ that stood up straight at the back of it. The colt’s desk and the halls many wooden shelfs were filled with scrolls, books and ledgers, and as the circle entered the old pony appeared to have been in the middle of trying to no avail to explain the meaning of the content of the scroll currently rolled out in front of the confused looking colt.

Speaker had never understood why some ponies wore such silly looking hats, but Cash seemed to know as he bowed deeply to the old pony: “Honorable councilor, may we steal a moment of your pupil’s time?”

The old pony threw a quick glance at the doorway, then looked at the circle and spoke with a voice that revealed the old stallion to be a frequent tobacco smoker: “We will see. Who are you and wha- YOU!?”

Red felt the old pony’s eyes pierce her very soul. The old pony stormed up to her and shouted: “How dare you show yourself here! Murderer! Have you no shame?!” and many other far less kind terms in a brutal tirade of indignation.

Evidently this pony was even less happy to see Red. The colt behind the desk covered his ears with his hooves and looked as if he was trying to burry himself in his oversized clothes.

The old pony’s shouting of obscenities ended with the old pony completely out of breath, so as a last act before pausing to catch his breath the old pony with the weird hat raised a hoof and struck Red right in the face.

There was a pregnant pause. Considering what Red had said outside the keep about the elder, then the circle all fully expected Red to explode in rage as only dawn castes could – all except Cash for some reason. Speaker couldn’t determine what he was to look at: Cash who appeared far too pleased with himself which indicated that he knew something the rest didn’t, or Red who looked like she was about to redecorate this archive of scrolls so it would appear as a Rorschach test of blood and unbridled fury.

Suddenly the old pony, who at that moment was catching his breath, appeared as if he was struck by lightning. It also sounded as if he was struck by lightning, as an impossibly loud boom rang out, coupled with a blinding flash of light.
When Speaker was to see again and his ears had stopped ringing he noticed the old pony cowering under a celestial spirit which had appeared – the spirit was screaming and shouting at the old pony, with such force that its divine words were pinning the old pony to the floor as well as making every loose piece of paper or unsecured scroll fly around the room. Speaker couldn’t understand a word it was saying, neither could the old pony from the looks of it, but the spirit sounded oh so very angry – but one felt almost compelled to look at the celestial being: it was of the purest and most beautiful of multicolored light, not blindingly bright, but it still hurt the eyes a little to look directly at it. It was difficult to discern any actual features of the spirit, although the noisy end was probably its head.

Cash stepped up and gestured for the spirit’s attention, then spoke in words similar to that of the spirit which then disappeared – allowing the previously airborne scrolls and bits of paper to clatter to the ground.

“And that is why one does not strike or otherwise aggress against an eclipse caste solar or those in his company while he is on official business” Cash said, grinning from ear to ear.

Speaker looked around at the mess. It would take a dozen scribes weeks to sort all the jumbled up scrolls and papers. He also recalled that there was something to what Cash had said: Eclipse caste solars had a special blessing built into their exaltation, one that granted them safe heaven where-ever they went for diplomatic missions and other functions of officious nature, provided that they did not harm or similarly assault their hosts. The result of attacking an eclipse cast pony or his followers? Divine retribution - very loud retribution from the sound of it. In the first age this had been invaluable to ensure that eclipse caste solars acting as messengers could travel creation without fear of being intercepted by primordial forces.

The old pony staggered up on his hooves and feebly tried to dust off his robes before lurching towards the door and breaking into a hobbling gallop, all the while heaving wildly. This left the circle alone with what was ostentatiously the overdressed young Shogun Chung Onyx.

Sunrise Glow was the first to approach Onyx while Cash explained what had happened to Shimmer, Red and Sullen Hoof. The young colt peered up from his makeshift hidey-hole dug into his own clothes, shaking, twitching every time Cash made a grandiose gesture or, in his eagerness to toot his own horn, got just a bit too loud while explaining his heavenly mandated diplomatic immunity.

Speaker looked on as the adolescent mare spoke softly to the young colt. She told him with a soothing and reassuring voice that it was ok to come out, that there was no danger – and that she and the circle was there to help.

The colt peered out of his silk robes. His black mane with white stripes and his white coat were well-groomed, and he looked at the circle with a mix of fear and amazement.

After having looked all over the room, then at the door, the colt finally got up in his little chair, took a deep breath, then jumped up on the table – no small feat considering his oversized clothes: “That was amazing! And you chased Fuku away! Thank you!” The colt then seemed to catch himself in his sudden burst of joy and relief, swallowing for a moment, then trying to look stern and officious: “Now, who are you all and what is your business here?”

Looking around in the room, nodding as if to agree with herself that she was remembering the layout of the castle correctly, Red gestured for the colt’s attention, then pointed at a painting that hung over in a corner of the archive. It was barely visible from the paper lanters that hung over the colt’s desk so it was hard to see what was painted, but Red walked over to it and flared her anima a bit while standing under the painting, illuminating it while again pointing at it: “See the Stallion, colt and filly up there?”

The painting featured the portrait of a stern looking light-brown coated stallion with a black mane in the clothes that Onyx was wearing, as well as that of a young colt and filly, both with a slightly darker coat and equally black manes, wearing smaller versions of the stallion’s fine garbs.

Onyx nodded, trying to look very attentive and serious despite the sudden shock of seeing the armor-clad mare shine a golden light: “Yes, that is my late father and his first two foals, also both diseased”

Red didn’t look that surprised that Onyx had simply been told that she was dead. It wasn’t even that far from the truth: From the moment she was exiled she had officially been dead to the family, even if Red still remembered her mother crying as Red was escorted out of the city.

Drawing a deep breath Red looked Onyx straight in the eyes: “The filly up there – she… she didn’t die – she was exiled. Did your parents ever tell you how Shadow Stomper died?”

Onyx’s expression wavered for a moment at the mention of his dead older brother’s name. He nodded hesitantly: “They said he died in an accident”

Red nodded, like an officer nodding after having received orders that she was duty-bound to fulfill which would certainly lead to her death: “It was a sparring accident. Father had to exile me to save face. I came back when I heard about the plague – and I've brought friends who can help cure it”

Onyx looked once again at the circle, then back at his supposed sister. His mouth moved as if to speak, but he did not. It was clear that he had been schooled well in how to maintain proper discipline and court etiquette – but in the face of meeting a long lost older sister, especially after his parents recently dying to the plague that was ravaging Chung Do… and all the stress of having to fix that – and the rebelling nobles...

Sunrise motioned for the rest of the circle to give the two some privacy.

Shutting the door to the archive, the circle found itself flanked by the elder and the other old pony – who seemed to have recovered somewhat from his heavenly smiting, although he still had a pronounced limp on his right rear leg. Speaker wasn’t sure if the councilor would let him treat that injury – and that made him sad.

Cash seemed content letting the two glower balefully at the circle while one could hear faint soft weeping and hints of quiet voices from the archive.

“So…” Shimmer said, not liking the uncomfortable silence.

The old pony broke the silence when he sucked in a deep breath, no doubt to shout at Cash – but just as he was about to speak the door opened and the shogun colt, followed by Red, stepped out: “Councilor Fuku! Why didn’t you say she’s my sister!”

The councilor – so that was what the hat meant – half-gasped most of his breath away as he mentally scrambled to figure out what to say. Cash beat him to it: “It simple really. Allow me to make a few educated guesses as to why?”
Onyx nodded.

“Your councilor and elder here – they’re all that’s left of your court right now, am I right? With the daimyos rebelling against you, they’ve withdrawn all their courtiers and advisors – and with you still evidently being taught statecraft, that leaves them in charge of the city?”

Onyx nodded again, switching his gaze back and forth from the elder and the councilor, both of which started to look very uncomfortable.

Cash continued: “So, with your parents dead they’re basically in charge of everything. Even with plague in the city that kind of power isn’t something to be taken lightly – so they’ve probably been doing a dandy job of keeping you out of the loop as much as possible. Tell me, have they ever said that ‘you shouldn’t worry about the details’ about something, or that ‘It is beneath a shogun to handle such matters’? They like to choose for you, don’t they?”

Onyx nodded again, slowly this time, while his expression became more and more dissatisfied as Cash made him consciously aware of what exactly was going on. Speaker was amazed at how quickly Cash had figured all of these things out.

“So here comes your long lost sister – by the line of succession she is the rightful heir, but her status as exile renders that moot – but you… no other family left, it looks like the two of you have reconciled. So if you decree her exile over she has a rightful claim to the throne… and considering how little she likes your elder and councilor, then they’d both stand to lose all the power they have over the city as well as their jobs… and maybe their heads So they try to chase her off. If it wasn’t because the good captain let us in first, or that once inside she looked as if she could kill every guardspony in the castle – and trust me, she could – the two of them would probably simply have ordered the archers at the gate to kill her” Cash said, hammering home his point.

Onyx didn’t look dissatisfied anymore. He looked angry. To the councilor he vented his childish rage: “You said she was a murderer”

“She killed your brother – she was exiled for a reason!” Councilor Fuku tried to explain. Onyx didn’t buy it – he said that Red had explained everything, how it had been an accident.

“And you believed that? She only made it look like an accident. It was clearly to move up the line of succession so she could become shogun!” Elder Riceflower said, managing somehow to both sound bitter and desperate at the same time.

It was clear that the elder and councilor were both finding it difficult to explain themselves. Whatever Red had said inside the archive seemed to be far more convincing than anything they could come up with.

Onyx told them to return to their quarters and remain there until he summoned them – and he did so with a voice filled with righteous indignation and firm resolve. Speaker could see Red swelling with pride at how her younger brother told off his treacherous advisors.

“I… I should have known what they were doing. They wouldn’t even let me sign decrees. I… what'll I do? Now I only have Bighoof to talk to, and he’s busy keeping the city from falling apart” Onyx said, the full effect of his orders dawning on him: “I’m not a good shogun”

Cash stepped up, with a gentle hoof raising the chin of the young colt shogun: “Cheer up: You now have a full cabinet of advisors, all blessed by the gods”

Onyx looked around at the circle with new wonder in his eyes. His gaze stopped at Red as he realized that she’d glowed a bright golden light just before...

Turning to Speaker, Cash cleared his throat and smiled: “Right – now go fix this plague business”