Red, who had somewhat reluctantly spent the last few days going house to house looking for recruits for the city and castle guard, was talking to the two dozen hopefuls she had managed to round up inside the castle courtyard, when she heard the commotion and moments later saw Speaker trapped in front of the portcullis. Red had never really been an officer in any way, always fighting under the command of others or on her own. This was how she preferred it, but when she saw her friend in trouble she did not hesitate to come to his aid.

“Raise the portcullis and the drawbridge this instant!” Red shouted as she ran to the portcullis in aid of Speaker.

Speaker sighed in relief as he saw Red run towards him, but the guards up on the battlements above the portcullis weren’t responding to her orders…

As Red reached Speaker this apparent insubordination also became apparent to Red – but that didn’t deter her. Using the incredibly unoriginally named Strength-Increasing Exercise charm, which really was less an exercise and more of a temporary muscle-enhancing technique, Red’s muscles swelled with essence under her casual training outfit, endowing her with more than enough strength to squat down and lift the heavy steel portcullis enough to let Speaker crawl through – and just in time, as the mob ran onto the drawbridge.

The ponies in the mob, seeing that they were now blocked from Speaker, were quick to call for the guards on the battlements to raise the portcullis – but Red and Speaker were quickly up alongside those very guards, Red giving them furious glares as only a dawn caste could, while Speaker addressed the mob: “What is this madness? Do you not know who I am? Why are hounding me like some criminal?”

Various voices shouted back at Speaker, but the common thread seemed to be that no pony was above holy law – and any sinner had to be brought to the temple.

Having reduced the guards on duty to quivering wrecks simply by the force of her glares, Red turned to Speaker: “I think that Sunrise has a few things to answer for here…”

Speaker nodded: “I’m inclined to agree – but I don’t think this mob here is going to let me go there peacefully”

Without saying a word, Red leapt down on the drawbridge – the thick oaken beams groaning as Red’s hooves impacted with supernatural force. Looking at the mob Red reared up and flared her anima to its totemic peak, wreathing her in not just golden flame by a beautiful bagua fit to stir any martial heart: “Ok you ingrates, we came here and found Chung Do fit for a shadowland. We have shed blood for you! We have dealt with mad gods for you! We have battled criminals who’d see you all starve as well as sicken and die! …and we have cured you of a disease none thought possible to survive, and this is how you thank us? You ungrateful foals, I should buck you all to malfeas! Now beat it!”

Faced with the fury of a dawn caste solar, especially one so enhanced by her terrifying iconic anime – an anima wrought via primordial artifice to enhance the battle proves of this specific caste of solars to magically intimidate any foe before her – the mob turned and ran. It was a complete rout, with ponies scrambling over one another to get away as Red stood before them full of righteous fury, whatever strange compulsions they were under not being strong enough to make the mob engage their solar opponent.

As the portcullis was finally raised Speaker joined Red: “Remind me never to piss you off…”

“They’re my people – my little ponies – I wouldn’t have hurt them unless they had struck first, but Celestia know that I was tempted” Red said begrudgingly.

The two made their way to the temple of Celestia that Speaker had incorporated into the city’s new layout and built of the finest marble that Shimmer’s elemental had ushered forth from the ground, having used the singing staff to reorient the veins in the marble to create beautiful patterns on almost every surface of the pyramid-like structure. In front of the temple was a large plaza surrounded by tall marble pillars, each formed with a mirror sheen with their veins forming starburst icons and smaller images of ponies dancing underneath.

No pony raised their voice or tried to stop them as Speaker and Red approached and entered the temple. The interior of the temple pyramid was surprisingly minimal, considering how flashy the outside of the temple was: The whole pyramid was hollow, with only a hole at the peak of the pyramid letting sunlight in and the whole floor being covered in a thin layer of sand over plain rock.

Hundreds of ponies sat and chanted in unison, producing a beautiful and almost haunting song that rang out through the temple, venerating Celestia. Despite the temple’s simple interior architecture it had surprisingly good acoustics thanks to Speaker's subtle design, making their songs and prayers ring out and reverberate quite nicely. In the center of it all, in the spotlight created by the light from the sunlight that came in from the hole the ceiling stood Sunrise, standing both resplendent and humble in her off-white robes.

It was quite unsettling for Speaker as he walked through the crowd of chanting ponies along with Red. They didn’t seem to even be aware of his presence, but he took heart in that Red didn’t seem to mind their eerie presence at all.

“Sunrise, what is this madness?” Red demanded.

Sunrise didn’t respond. She was standing silently in the cone of light shining down from above.

Speaker and Red tried a few more times to make contact – but Sunrise seemed to firmly ignore the two solars from beneath her hood. None of the other ponies at the temple seemed willing to acknowledge their presence, let along respond to their questions, and the two knew quite well that Sunrise’s defensive charms were too powerful for them to overcome if were to try to get rough, so they reluctantly opted to leave instead.

Leaving, Speaker and Red had no idea what to do. It seemed clear that while they had been rebuilding the city Sunrise had usurped power by using her charms on the ponies of Chung Do.

On the plaza outside the temple, Red stomped angrily, sparks flying as her hooves struck the stone: “Damnit, I didn’t come here to save my home only to let it become a crazy cult town”

“Well that does explain why Cash disappeared…” Speaker said grimly.

Turning to give Speaker an angry glare, Red said: “What do you mean by that?”

“Cash was probably the first who saw what was happening – he’s always good at reading other ponies. I’ll bet that he’d know how to undo this as well, or at the very least how to get Sunrise to stop and reign in her followers” Speaker said, thinking about how to find Cash.

Red agreed, but wondered where Cash might be then. Last she had heard was that Cash had been really busy tallying post-plague census numbers, but she knew that Cash been to his office at the city hall in a few days.

“Well, let’s be thorough then. If we go to city hall and assume that he left it before disappearing, because I know that his underlings there saw him leave, where might he have disappeared to?” Speaker thought out loud, looking in the direction of the city hall.

Going to the front steps of the city hall, a large office building with a few green banners that had originally hung from the castle walls, the two looked around for where Cash might have gone.

Looking at the closed shops as they began walking down the street and how all the ponies now seemed to shy away from them, Red’s mood soured: “Damnit, I swear I will beat some sense into Sunrise no matter what”

Continuing down the street, looking at shops, despairing at fact that with the new continuous stone paving it was impossible to read any kind of hoof prints on the street. Speaker worried that combing the city for Cash would take weeks, especially if Cash was moved around to avoid detectino.

“That might not be necessary – look” Red said, pointing to a sign that said “House of Comforts”

Speaker chuckled: “You really think Cash has been in a brothel for this long?”

“Don't think there's enough prostitutes left alive in Chung Do to occupy him for that long– but this brothel is the first one on the way from city hall to the castle, so it's a good place to start” Red said, certain in Cash's carnal preferences.

Speaker summarized Cash’s behavior in a slightly simpler fashion: “True, that pony likes to get his dick sucked – let’s check it out”

The two solars walked down the alley and knocked on the door with the red paper lantern overhead. The door was opened by a hooded bouncer and they were ushered by signs into a sparsely decorated lobby with paper scrolls hung on the walls detailing various sexual acts and their corresponding costs - the available selection wasn't wide, but the usual frills and thrills were all covered.

Standing behind a bamboo counter, a madam greeted her two new costumers. She seemed surprised to see Red and Speaker enter her establishment, but remained cheerful none the less: “My lords, what can I do for you?”

“Has Cash Charmer been in here recently?” Red asked bluntly, not even trying to veil her accusatory tone.

The madam, a pretty mare in a thin but revealing dress, smiled and said that Cash Charmer had sadly not.

“She’s lying” Speaker said unceremoniously, Red instantly leaping towards the mare, a golden hook-sword of blazing essence having formed in the split second it took Red to charge right through the flimsy wooden counter – now holding it to the mare’s throat.

“Where is he!?” Red shouted angrily, fury radiating from her eyes.

At once the lobby was swarmed by a dozen hooded enforcers in heavy hammer-shoes. The fight that ensued between the two solars against the goons was brief, messy and tore the brothel interior apart – this revealed that beyond the lobby there really wasn’t anything to the brothel… no rooms, no beds, no nothing.

Having reduced the hooded thugs to a big groaning heap of barely conscious pain, Red seamlessly resumed her interrogation of the madam: “Now, where is Cash – and keep in mind that Speaker here can tell if you’re lying”

The madam, despite the situation, somehow managed to show no fear again as she calmly stated: “I am sorry, I cannot help you”

Speaker again pointed out that the mare was lying – but despite Red violently shaking the madam about, the mare somehow maintained her reluctance to speak the truth.

“Speaker, this is some freaky shit – why won’t she tell us where Cash is? She knows it, your truth telling charm shows that” Red said, confused and angered in the face of a foe that seemed immune to both reason and intimidation.

The situation suddenly reminded Speaker of how they themselves had been unable to see that deathknight due to her mind control: “Red, use that mind-control-undoing charm you were taught by the bull!”

Red gladly raised a hoof and gave the madam mare a righteous slap across the face. The mare instantly convulsed as golden plumes of flame in the form of loudly hissing snakes erupted from her mouth and eyes…

A few moments later the mare struggled to stand up, obviously shook up by the experience. She looked up at Red and Speaker, now with fear in her eyes, and her voice far more timid. Almost whispering, she begged: “Oh gods… please don’t kill me”

“We won’t, I promise – now tell me what’s going on!” Red demanded.

At first the mare looked a little confused, then motioned as if to speak – but stopped again – then finally she whispered, with much trepidation: “I, yes… Lord Charmer was taken to a warehouse over on the west side. They’ve made it into a prison where she comes and talks to you… and then you become one of them”

Speaker nodded slowly: “Right, and by ‘she’ you mean Sunrise?”

The madam hesitantly nodded, as if she feared that she'd up in the very same prison.

A little more back and forth revealed the full extent of what had been going on: Sunrise had evidently used some kind of mind-control charm to instill certain compulsions in all the ponies who heard her sermons – which at this point was all the ponies in Chung Do. They were to never waver, to never fear, and to never defy her holy teachings, as that was sin.

“Well, at least Sunrise learned something useful from the Ruby and Emerald Mare – how to condense absolute societal control down into three simple magical compulsions” Speaker said, sighing deeply at the prospect of somehow having to get Red to cleanse the mind of all the ponies of Chung Do.

“Hey, at least we know where Cash is being held” Red said in a surprisingly cheerful tone.

The madam, seeing that her usefulness was no more, trembled: “What about me? They’ll come for me now because I told you… they think its sin, they’re mad!”

“Not mad, just not fully in control of themselves. You just get back behind what’s left of the counter and fake it. If they accuse you having said anything simply proclaim your faith again and accuse them of not believing in Sunrise’s power – if their minds are as tightly bound as we think they are, then they won’t be able to second-guess you if you invoke Sunrise’s name directly” Speaker said.

The madam nodded and did as suggested. As Speaker and Red left the fake brothel they could hear the madam trying to piece the shattered counter back again.

“Good grief – setting up a trap like this to catch any pony who just wanted a good time? Really?” Red grumbled as they headed towards the grand bridge.

Speaker wasn’t sure it was just coincidence: “No, this place was set up where Cash was sure to pass by. I’m pretty sure it was set up to catch him specifically”

“I swear, Sunrise is going to pay for this” Red said, fuming. Speaker suggested that she focus her fury on whatever ponies that were guarding the makeshift prison they were about to storm.

Nodding, Red looked to the skies: “You know, if Shimmer was here she could probably have sniffed out Cash in no time”
“True… I haven’t seen her in weeks now, ever since she went to summon that jokun and bring me the stone to rebuild the city” Speaker said, suddenly aware that this absence of his lunar mate probably had something to do with Sunrise as well.
Seeing the sudden flash of worry on Speaker’s face, Red quickly pointed out that it was unlikely that Shimmer had been captured – but in turn Speaker pointed out that that would be a good thing: “…because if Sunrise somehow just talked Shimmer into up and leaving us, for good, then we might never see her again”
“Damn…” Red muttered.

The prison on the west side was surprisingly easy to find – it was one of the only warehouses with any ponies milling about it. There were ponies brining in food, water, carrying out what looked like dirty laundry – all of them hooded of course. There were also ponies standing around the main gate with spears.

“Step aside, we have business inside” Red declared officiously.

The guardsponies didn’t buy that for a second, but as Red quickly broke into a furious tirade they quickly knocked on the door to have it opened from the inside: “How dare you question us!? We are here by orders from Sunrise Glow herself! That you can even think to question our holy orders is tantamount to sin!”

“Nice” Speaker quietly said as they were let in.

Red shook her head: “No, not nice, I just did like you suggested to that brothel madam. This means that any pony who claims to have been given orders from Sunrise can get away with anything now. Murder, rape, theft – anything, as long as they scream and shout that Sunrise told them to do it and that you have no business questioning Sunrise’s orders. We just need one pony who resists Sunrise’s mind control and catches on to this loophole and we’ll have another water walker gang looting the city in no time”

Blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the warehouse, Speaker nodded: “Ya ok, that’s… that’s not good”

The sight that met the two solars was not a pretty one. Hundreds of pillories, wooden contraptions with five holes in them for a pony’s neck and hooves to fit through and be locked in, with over half of them filled with ponies who all had crude burlap bags over their heads…

The pillories were arranged within the large warehouse in two circles, one within the other, so all the captive ponies were facing towards the middle – an ideal setup if you wanted to bind their minds through a mind-control charm that required them all being able to hear you.

“This is insane” Red said as she looked around.

Speaker agreed, but not in the way Red expected: “Yes and no – I’m beginning to think that Sunrise has bound her mind just as much as she had all the other ponies”

“Really? And how does that explain this?” Red said, pointing towards one pony in a pillory. The sack over the pony’s head showed murky stains of vomit and there were marks from beatings all over the poor pony’s bruised and battered naked body.

“Think about what the madam said. No fear, that goes all the way back to Denansdor where she said she’d used a charm instead of one of those bracelets. Never to waver, that’d mean that she’s unable to hesitate or even stop and think about what she’s doing… I think she’s as trapped in her own mind and all the other ponies here” Speaker said, hoping to Celestia that he was right – for if not then there was little hope of ever stopping Sunrise, outside of outright killing her.

Looking about at the imprisoned ponies: “That is fucked up… but I guess that explains her choice at the bull, wait, damnit, that’s it!”

Speaker gave Red an inquisitive look. Red explained that while Speaker had been down and out while getting his mind purged of the deathknight’s influence, and the others had been taking turns getting theirs done as well, then Sunrise had opted not to be purged – instead claiming that she would use her own charms to counter the deathknight’s compulsion once the rest of the circle identified the exact nature of it.

“So she’s afraid that the mind-clearing charm would undo her own work?” Speaker said, liking Red’s plan already, as it implied that Red’s mind-purging charm might ‘fix’ Sunrise. Red nodded, but added that first they should find Cash among the prisoners.

Going pony to pony and removing their hoods, it quickly became evident that Cash wasn’t among the ponies in the circles of pillories. It then struck Speaker that Cash obviously wouldn’t be held there, since he could probably resist Sunrise’s mind-control anyway – he would be held somewhere else.

“Right, so how do we find him? I mean, unless they didn’t just execute him” Red pointed out.

Speaker was certain that Cash hadn’t been executed: “Even the exalted can fall to mind control. I remember treating unicorns who’d been captured and tortured for information, subjected to charms by other unicorns. The trick is that it takes a while to mentally break a pony who’s exalted, before they become susceptible to charms that would make them speak”
"Again, what makes you think they didn't just kill him?" Red reiterated, sounding genuinly worried.

Shrugging, Speaker noted that even if Shimmer's disdain for Cash's casual use of prostitutes was well known, then Sunrise would still need someone to run the daily administration of Chung Do and the lands around it.

“Right, so where is he then?” Red said, looking around and not seeing anything with a sign that said 'Solar storage'
“Let’s ask one of the ponies who work here – but cleanse their mind first so they can speak freely” Speaker suggested.

One round of flaming snake-eyes later and the two solars had another quite visibly frightened pony on their hooves – but now they also knew where Cash was.

Going out to the public latrine set up next to the prison, Speaker floated one of the lids up and looked into the ocean of piss and poo underneath: “Hey Red, here he is”

Down in the tank of toilet fed by the public latrine was Cash, tied up very securely in a sturdy oaken pillory, so that only his head was above the ‘water level’ – although it was also evident that his captors hadn’t had the foresight to remove the indestructible, claw-shooting shoes, silks or his colar of dawn’s cleansing, so when Red hauled Cash up only she was sullied – while Cash came out of the septic tank looking as clean as could be and quite stylish. Red guessed that he'd been put in the pillory and then crapper while knocked out.

Cash was understandably thankful as his gag was removed, quickly extolling the virtues of Speaker and Red for rescuing him. Just as quickly as he had praised his two saviors Cash began railing against his captors: “They’re lunatics, you can’t talk to them – what does Sunrise think she’s doing?”

Speaker explained what he and Red knew of Sunrise’s mind control on the ponies of Chung Do, as well as his theory of Sunrise’s own mental constraints. Cash found Speaker’s theory intriguing: “That… that actually makes a scary amount of sense”

“But why?” Red wondered, looking around to see if any prison guards were in sight.

Cash reminded Red of Sunrise’s homeland – the city state of Great Forks, the city of a thousand temples. With all the cults there it had to be difficult for any priesthood to hold on to their cultists, so being able to use charms to more or less forbid her flock from deviating from her course probably appeared to Sunrise as a really handy ability and a very sound idea.

“But that’s not what she did. She made her cultists unable to fear and waver, and they think that defying her is sin” Red countered.

Cash smiled: “It’s the last part that holds them in – if her word is suddenly holy law, then she can simply say that apostasy is a sin. Presto, leaving the cult becomes sin… but this fear and wavering… that’s different”

As the three solars began to walk to the temple to confront Sunrise, Cash discussed this strange mental compulsion to be fearless and unwavering with Speaker: “Do you remember what Sunrise told of her foalhood?”

Speaker recalled what Sunrise had told him while they had been down in the south-eastern jungles, before getting to Denansdor: “After she was orphaned she dodged a number of kidnapping attempts from various pleasure cults that had failed to recruit her willingly…”

“True, and from what I gathered then she even suspects that her parents death was because of their refusal to sell her to one of the cults. That’s the thing: Behind that façade of contempt and overzealous restraint she’s probably a frightened little filly who suddenly found herself walking among ponies far braver and bolder than herself. If she used the Unhesitating Dedication and Illusive Dream Defense charms to bind her mind to not be afraid again and never waver in the face of adversity… honestly it makes sense, but it also means that she’s using her charms like a crutch instead of working out her problems, something that I am certain that the rest of us – me in particular ironically – could help her overcome very quickly” Cash explained as they crossed the grand bridge and neared the temple to Celestia.

Speaker mulled over Cash’s observations and theories as they approached the temple: “But will that allow Red to use her mind-clearing charm to undo all that?”

Cash shrugged: “No idea –but hey, did Red tell you that she didn’t allow the bull to that charm on her?”
Speaker nodded.

“Well, then it’s do or die – because I sure as Malfeas isn’t going to let Chung Do keep on going like this” Red stated resolutely.

The temple revealed the same sight that Red and Speaker had come across earlier that day when they had first come to reason with Sunrise. The same pyramid, the same columns, the same banners and the same sound of chanting and singing from inside – although this time there was a group of hooded ponies armed with spears out in front, waiting for the three solars, and in front of them stood a pony who’s burn scars on his muzzle under his hood revealed him to Sullen Hoof.
“Sully, please tell me you’re not part of this” Speaker implored.

Sullen Hoof didn’t answer, instead stating: “The prophet does not wish to be disturbed – disperse”

“Don’t try to argue with him, he can’t feel fear… Red, fix him” Cash said, his voice one part remorseful and one part vindictive. Speaker wondered if Sullen Hoof had been part in capturing Cash.

Prior to reaching the temple Red had instructed Speaker to retrieve Gift. Staring at a mind controlled Sullen Hoof made Speaker feel uncomfortably happy that Red had done so as Sullen Hoof and Sunrise’s armed pony thugs advanced on them.

Red made short work of the mortal ponies, swatting them aside with swift and powerful blows of her hooves. Sullen Hoof, for obvious reasons, proved more difficult to combat.

As Red squared off against Sullen Hoof, the solar culinarian activated his Orichalcum Chef Style charms, causing a whirlwind of cleavers flew out from under Sullen Hoof’s cloak, making getting anywhere near Sullen Hoof a very dangerous prospect. Red in turn struck a mighty pose as she positioned herself in the aegis assuming stance, girding her body in her lamellar armor – the flying cleavers harmlessly bouncing off the many tiny red-lacquered steel plates that made up Red's imposing mercenary barding.

Looking on as the two solars fought, Speaker pondered what Sullen Hoof’s strategy was – assuming there was one at all. Did Sullen Hoof honestly think that he could hold off Red, Cash and Speaker indefinitely? Considering what he had seen with the other brainwashed ponies of Chung Do Speaker concluded that Sullen Hoof probably didn’t have such an endgame in mind – he was far more likely acting on orders from Sunrise, unable to object or point out that against three solars even he would eventually fall, unless of course Sully used his cook-fu against them to its full effect.

“Red, don’t bother trying to hurt him, just hit him with the mind-cleaner before he starts having your chop his onions!” Cash shouted, demonstrating quite well that he wasn’t particularly tactically minded, as Sullen Hoof quickly distanced himself from Red via a powerful leap backwards now that he knew what Red was trying to accomplish, hurling several solid steel rolling pins at the dawn caste pony in the process.

“Sully, you don’t have to fight us – think for a moment. We’re trying to end this madness! Please, just stop and listen” Speaker implored, hoping that Sullen Hoof would think of him as more than just a circlemate, but a friend – and through that possibly overcome his magical compulsions.

Sullen Hoof paused for a moment, standing still long enough for Red to close in and try to hit him again – but the night caste solar effortlessly dodged every swipe and buck. As Red roared in anger and frustration, Sullen Hoof simply darted around her and struck her from behind, not hurting Red due to her armor, but none the less knocking her over. Speaker was at first confounded at this move, for Sully could have attempted any number of powerful offensive and lethal moves there – but he hadn’t. It occurred to Speaker that Sullen Hoof didn't seem really to have any kind of real strategy in mind, but at the same time his actions just didn't make sense, since he obviously wasn't bringing his best in the fight. Equally, the fact that Red wasn’t trying to kill Sullen hoof, restricting her from using her sword-forming charms and weapon-based melee charms, put Red at a serious disadvantage since most of her charms were oriented towards lethal forms of combat. Of course, if Sullen Hoof at some point could introduce food into the mix Red might end up being made to eat herself, so a prolonged fight wasn’t desirable. Perhaps Sully's orders were purely to keep the three from entering the temple, not killing them? That might make sense.

Speaker thought furiously at how Red might be able to quickly land a blow on his friend. Sullen Hoof’s defensive charms were clearly oriented towards dodging instead of parrying or magically toughing a blow. With no small amount of reluctance, Speaker threw Gift at Sullen Hoof – the primordial artifact whirring to life with a puff of steam and the unmistakably metallic sound of the revving essence engine within as the blades extended around the edge of disk. Speaker didn’t really expect to hit Sullen Hoof, indeed Sully dodged Gift effortlessly, but that was the plan. As Gift missed it swerved around on its own and came around for another go, and another, and another. Speaker knew Gift wouldn’t return to him until it struck Sullen Hoof or he recalled it, so it simply became another thing that Sullen Hoof had to dodge.

“Cash, shoot Sully with your claw-shoes. Aim for his rear hooves, nothing vital, and take time to aim first” Speaker called out, as he himself rushed into the fray, his caste mark quickly lighting up as a multitude of cleavers bounced relatively harmlessly off his flesh, hardened by his defensive charm, leaving only shallow cuts – but leaving many of them.

Suddenly having to contend not just with a single foe in the form of Red, but also Gift, Speaker, and even Cash as he occasionally shot frighteningly well-aimed claw-spikes at his rear hooves, Sullen Hoof quickly found himself burning through essence much faster than he liked - especially considering that he clearly wasn't using his charms that efficiently, apparently using charms on a case-by-case basis instead of using longer lasting and economic charms that wouldn't see him drained of essence so quickly...

Stepping back to avoid Speaker trying to grab him, quickly lifting a hoof to avoid another claw-shot from Cash, Sullen Hoof spun around to narrowly duck under Red – no, that was Gift, where wa- oww.

Red impacted Sullen Hoof with a right hoof-hook so solid that Speaker could actually hear the wet sound of Sully’s jaw breaking, that disgustingly wet snap of bone and unmistakable rattle of loosened teeth. It pained him to see a friend hurt, even more so as Sullen Hoof dropped to the ground, writhing in pain, as golden snakes of fire shot out of his now painfully twisted and agape mouth and his eyes which he was probably trying to clench in pain anyway.

Speaker quickly rushed to Sullen Hoof, hitting him with his anesthetic charm to alleviate the pain and calling for Red to help pin Sully down. With Sullen Hoof held firmly, Speaker used his medical charms to set the broken jaw and fix the broken teeth, even magically regrowing the few that were missing entirely. Ripping up Sully’s robe, Speaker bandaged Sully’s muzzle tightly, as it was the only means he had at the moment to immobilize the jaw. Ideally he’d prefer to wire Sully’s jaw shut, but that would have to be done later.

Halfway through the procedure to repair Sullen Hoof’s jaw the night caste pony stopped struggling, as the flames from his eyes died down.

When his jaw was as done as it was possible for Speaker to make and he was released from Red’s grasp Sullen Hoof staggered up. The anesthetic charm took away his pain, but it also made it difficult to focus – still Sully managed to float up a rolling pin and write in the dust before him: “I am sorry”

Shaking his head, Speaker smiled at his friend: “This was not your fault. You weren’t able to think clearly. Now, don’t try to speak or your jaw wont set right”

“Come on, enough talk, we have to end this” Red said, motioning for the four of them to enter the temple.

Sullen Hoof quickly rushed over in front of Red and began to write in the ground. A gust of wind blew dust over his attempts at communicating, but Cash somehow still got the message: “Right, don’t enter because she’ll take control of our minds. Well, I wouldn’t worry about that, because Speaker has a plan to counter that, right? Right?”

Seeing as the three were all looking at him, Speaker took a deep breath: “Uhm… well… we know that we can’t hurt her, and if we let her talk to us… hmm… well we're going in knowing what to expect and wanting to resist it, that'll help us a lot”

“So we just rush her, pin her down and hold her mouth shut – shouldn’t be that difficult” Red said, not sounding particularly worried.

Looking at Cash who shrugged, Sullen Hoof who just nodded, and Red who seemed sure of herself, Speaker acquiesced and the four solars galloped into the temple.

Inside they found Sunrise behind what very much looked like several hundred cloaked ponies, all of whom had the same steely-eyed gaze locked on the four of them as they entered the temple.

“Oh come on Sunrise, hiding behind mortals? Aren’t you gloriously powerful enough to face us head on?” Cash called out.
“We do not hide, we are here listening to the holy words of the prophet” a familiar voice stated. It was Chung Onyx, the young shogun. With the burlap hood and cloak he looked just like all the other ponies… but Red quickly slapped him with the mind-clearing charm, her eyes tearful and face twisted in anger as she shouted: “You will not use my brother against us!” and dove into the crowd of ponies, shoving her way through towards Sunrise, while her younger brother twisted around on the ground as the compulsions ingrained by Sunrise were burned out.

Red peered through sea of ponies standing between her and Sunrise with a mix of fury and apprehension – she wanted to save them, but they sure weren’t making it easy. The hooded ponies clearly weren’t attacking – they were simply standing in the way and making every effort to stand still, close together and not be moved aside, standing so close to each other that it was impossible to get past them even with using force.

Sunrise began to preach, her voice amplified by charms so it could be heard clearly all throughout the temple: “Praise Celestia, for all righteous ponies know well that the word of the prophet should be obeyed. To do otherwise is to sin against the will of Celestia as spoken by her one true prophet…”

Speaker, with his essence sight charm, could literally see the waves of mind-bending essence radiating out from Sunrise as she spoke from her pedestal – and he could feel the words tug at his mind forcefully. Sunrise hadn’t even tried to hide the nature of the compulsion she was trying to force upon the circle, while Red, Sullen Hoof and Cash tried to shove their way through the ponies in front of them Speaker could also see that it’d take too long to get to Sunrise… she’d wear them all down mentally before they could ever get to her.

Recalling the old unicorn adage “If the mountain will not come to Pasiap, then Pasiap must come to the mountain” about the elemental dragon of earth and how one must have patience but also be flexible, Speaker brought Gift to bear. The old saying he had remembered rekindled much older memories from the first age, memories of motion, of how to move things by moving other things, or imparting motion through essence – a linear flight principle.

Dropping into his Thousand Wounds Gear Style form, rearing up but also broadening his stance and steeling his muscles tense for strong and powerful motions, Speaker threw Gift with all his might. He silently prayed that he had recalled this technique correctly, as Gift flew and a golden streak from his anima followed it like a golden vapor trail.

Gift zoomed past Sunrise at great speed, curving and banking to strike at her from behind – but just as Sunrise had hardened her form with a powerful shielding charm Gift banked and struck Sunrise with one of its flat sides, the golden streak that followed it impacting through Gift, dispensing tremendous amounts of motile essence upon Sunrise – flinging the young mare up and over her herd of mind controlled ponies.

Sunrise had clearly not anticipated this turn of events, screaming in surprise and shock as she tumbled down among her flock, landing before Cash and Red – Sullen Hoof having had trouble getting through the mass of ponies since the anesthetic charm he was still under made him move like a drunk pony.

“I am righteous, you will not touch me! You will bow to me!” Sunrise frantically commanded, surrounding herself with an intimidating flare of baleful and bright light that shined like the gaze of a judgmental god.

Speaker again felt the words tug alluringly at his the back of his mind. Part of him wanted to submit to her oh so dearly… and to his great horror Speaker saw Sullen Hoof bow down before her – but Red would not be intimidated.

“No” Red unceremoniously stated and defiantly booped Sunrise on the nose. Sunrise took a shaky step backwards, the hooded ponies around her stepping aside without saying a word.

It was clear that Sunrise was fighting the mind-purging charm that Red had inflicted on her, but ultimately Sunrise was fighting a charm that elevated truth – and her own charms and essence resonated with this divine ideal and imperative, defying her own will, letting plumes of flame erupt from Sunrise’s mouth and eyes, burning away her hood to reveal the face of a very young mare with an orange mane roughly sheared and cut away, having left ugly and uneven tufts of orange hair jutting out from her head and neck.

As the circle gathered around Sunrise it became clear that the mass of hooded ponies around them was unable to do anything without Sunrise telling them, probably due to whatever orders Sunrise had given them. Speaker sighed at the thought of what might be going through the minds of the many ponies, having to somehow contend themselves with being prisoners in their own bodies thanks to Sunrise’s mind-bending charms. Hopefully now Sunrise would be able to undo her own work.

As Sunrise’s mouth and eyes slowly stopped emitting flames – for they seemed to have done so a lot longer than Sullen Hoof had – the young mare began to cry.

It was deeply uncomfortable to see the many hooded ponies and their blank faces staring at the crying little mare, but as Speaker attempted to approach her Sunrise simply sobbed and flipped over on the ground, turning away from him.

“Right, I am waiting around for this” Cash suddenly said, hauling the reluctant and still crying Sunrise up on his back and galloping off. At the gate into the pyramid temple, bathed in sunlight, Cash called out to all the hooded ponies: “Spread the word to all ponies in the city: Your prophet will speak to you all at dusk at twin fountain square – make sure that all are there to hear her speak, but ensure of this nicely, without using force.

Taking this as their cue to leave, the throng of hooded ponies scattered. Speaker, Red and Sullen Hoof followed Cash back to the castle, Red hauling her younger brother along who seemed quite confused and distraught over what had happened.
At the castle, barely inside the courtyard, Cash bucked Sunrise off his back and onto the ground. Red led her brother inside the castle.

“Ok little lady, you have a lot to answer for. Your cronies tried to drown me in shit! They tried to lynch Speaker for working on finishing the city! And you brainwashed the Shogun! Give me one good reason not to have you up between the boats!” Cash shouted angrily, Speaker unsure what Cash was playing at – hoping that he was just trying to make Sunrise snap back into reality.

Sullen Hoof poked Speaker on the shoulder, having written on a piece of paper: “Boats?”

Speaker explained Sullen Hoof the horrible execution method known as Scaphism, where you tied a pony down inside a hollow contained on their back – usually a small boat with an upturned boat on top out in the open, then force-fed them milk and honey, while also smearing their bellies with honey – and then you left them for insects to come and feast on the honey… and ultimately on the pony. The really nasty part was that usually this also involved returning to the pony once a day to force-feed them more milk and honey and smear more honey on their belly to attract more insects. Back in medical school Speaker had heard of victims lasting as long as seventeen days before they died to being eaten alive, belly first, by multitudes of insects.

Sullen Hoof gave Cash a very frightened look. Speaker understood the reaction.

Sunrise looked up at Cash, choking back sobs: “I… I was afraid”

Cash rewarded Sunrise with a slap across the face - from the howl of pain it appeared that Sunrise hadn’t used a shielding charm to counter the blow. Speaker took this as a good sign.

“To a certain degree I don’t really care why you did what you did – we’ll address that later – right now you need to start thinking about what you’re going to say to the city and specifically how you’re going to undo your mind control, because I sure as Malfeas don’t think that Red will have the patience to slap every pony in the city across the face to right your wrongs” Cash sternly stated.

Sunrise nodded in defeat, trying to say something, but it all just came out as sobs and half-choked crying.

“Come on Cash, give her a break – she’s clearly traumatized here, give her some room” Speaker urged, finding it difficult to see Cash shout at the crying mare – despite what she had done.

Cash gave Speaker a thousand yard stare: “I was suspended in shit up to my nose in almost three days - I don't have charms like you so I can breathe underwater. Drowning in piss isn't fun”

Speaker, somewhat unmoved by Cash’s excuse since the latrine’s content hadn’t really done any damage or left any stains thanks to Cash’s collar of dawn’s cleansing, shook his head: “If you want to motivate her to undo her damage, why not try to cheer up her a bit first?”

At first rolling his eyes at Speaker, Cash sighed. He then put on a pained but frighteningly sincere-looking smile and suddenly it was as if Cash had not been angry at all: “Sunrise… darling… you all told us of how horrible your foalhood had been and how the Cult of the Illuminated had basically saved you from being foalnapped, but you clearly used your charms here in a very inconsiderate and unfortunate way. Now be a good filly and undo the damage you’ve done, or this city won’t be possible to save”

Sunrise looked up at Cash and whipped her eyes: “I… I’ll try”

Author's Note

Scaphism is - or was - real. It was used in ancient greece. That 17 day thing, a person apparently really did last that long once... although it probably wasn't fun, since the once-a-day forcefeeding would lead to diarrhea and dehydration all the while you'd be unable to get flies and insects away from your mouth, eyes, junk and of course... belly.