The Scroll of Exalted Ponies

It was shortly after breakfast that the circle assembled in the castle courtyard. Shimmer had a cloud ready, and they were quickly off in an eastern direction. Sullen Hoof spotted the first blockade quickly, but they flew past it towards a location that Shimmer had identified as the supply station where a lot of the grain and rice that should have been sold in Chung Do had been stored, in anticipation for the siege it might have to feed later.

It was a large farm and apple orchard, which had been fortified with a wooden stockade around the perimeter. Shimmer said that it had a garrison of about fifty soldiers, ten junior officers and one senior officer. Red said: “A target-rich environment – love it already”

The circle briefly discussed whether or not they should use any obvious powers. Sure, they were flying in on a cloud – but they could still land some distance away from the supply depot and walk the rest of the way. The real issue was that if any survivors from the depot made it back to Birdstone and spoke of nies with golden and silvery powers… well, it might make any formal negotiations difficult.

“Honestly – we can’t hide our exaltations forever. And Speaker, remember when we first came here after the guild caravan had been necro’d? The officer at that road block had heard of you and the unicorn you’d fought. If they knew about you, then the daimyos know – and then it won’t matter. So I say we go in full force” Cash argued. The rest of the circle couldn’t really find any faults in that logic. Cash noted that if the rebel nobles are already chummy with a deathknight, then they might not even consider them anathema, only powerful ponies to be reckoned with.

Shimmer flew the cloud down into the middle of the farm. The soldiers on the ground quickly spotted the suspicious cloud descending and sounded the alarm – Red only found this amusing as she roared and leapt at them, a large tetsubo wrought of her own essence swinging around her. The cloud dissolved into wisps of silvery essence as Shimmer transformed into her beastpony form and dove for the soldiers as well.

Speaker, Sullen Hoof, Sunrise and Cash Charmer all dropped down onto the roof of the big barn as the cloud dissolved, Sullen Hoof leaping down to join the fray with the soldiers.

Speaker and Sunrise stayed up on the roof, watching the fighting, while Cash began climbing down the side of the barn using his shoe-claws to dig into the side of the building as he made his way down. By the time Cash had reached the ground the fight was over. Red was lording over a big pile of unconscious soldiers, while Shimmer had ensnared two dozen ponies in threads of essence – like the webbing of a spider – and Sullen Hoof emerged moments later with a beat up officer, a cream colored mare from the looks of it, wearing a dented steel helmet with the same white crest of a flower that the soldiers at the blockade the circle had first encountered when traveling to Chung Do – this revealed the troops at the supply depot to be under the command of Daimyo Crane Lotus.

Shimmer tied everyone up with her essence strands, while Speaker and Cash inspected the barn. It was filled to the brim with sacks of grain, rice, dried fruit, barrels of beer and wine. Enough to feed a small army for a month or two, or Chung Do for a few weeks. The question was how to get it all back: Speaker had an idea.

Three hours later Sullen Hoof, Red and Sunrise looked on in a mix of despair, confusion and a general loss of words as Speaker had used his singing staff to raise the barn up from the ground and give it a thick stone plate to ‘stand’ on, it not having been built with any real floor. He’d then cut down a few surrounding trees using Gift, and with Shimmer’s help fashioned four giant wheels and two giant axles – and turned the barn into something not unlike a guild wagon.

“Right, now how are we going to move this thing?” Cash wondered.

Shimmer beheld her and Speaker’s work with a strange mix of pride and incredulity: “I could turn into a tyrant lizard and pull it – but even then, that thing probably weighs more than I can pull in that form”

“If we had a yeddim…” Cash mused…

Sullen Hoof pointed out that according to the map they were using, on which Shimmer had marked the various blockade and supply depot locations, then there was a guild caravansary not far from the farm they were at. Cash started to get a funny look in his eyes.

A short walk, no small amount of haggling, and the exchange of a big purse full of silver later Cash had a yeddim and an even funnier look in his eyes.

Beholding his purchase, its brown shaggy fur and cream-colored mane making it look like any other yeddim used to haul gargantuan loads, meaning that while the massive quadroped stood at a little over seventeen yards at the shoulder it was by no means special in any way, Cash smiled: “I think I’ll call him Appah”

“It’s female” Shimmer noted.

Looking up at the towering giant of a beast of burden, Cash frowned: “Right, well… honestly, considering what I’m planning to do with this beauty I might as well dub her ‘Rape Train’. I honestly can’t think of anything more fitting”

The circle agreed to name the yeddim Nah, Cash objecting but ultimately accepting the majority vote.

The taskmaster of the caravansary looked on in a mix of confusion and financial satisfaction as the circle began to slowly ride off on the howdah atop Nah. The taskmaster’s look changed into one of dumbstruck awe as Cash activated his Flashing Thunderbolt Steed charm…

To the circle the experience of sudden acceleration was slightly different: When on Shimmer’s magic clouds they were all naturally shielded via the cloud against the oncoming rush of air – Cash’s charm offered no such protection – it also made Nah suddenly accelerate to a speed half again as fast as top speed of Shimmer’s magic clouds. Cash relished in the rush of air going through his mane.

Clinging to the wooden railings of the howdah on top of Nah for dear life, the rest of the circle did not share Cash’s enthusiasm – but before any of them could even manage to call for Cash to stop or slow down they found themselves back at the supply depot, as well as no longer moving.

“Ok, Cash, I can see why you wanted to name her Rape Train – I mean, with a bit of barding and armor for its legs you could plow through any formation or light fortification… but please, in the future, give us a heads up before you pull something like that” Red admonished as she caught her breath, looking far less frightened than the rest of the circle, although the part of the howdah railings she had clung to showed clear signs of having been crushed by supernatural strength by someone who’d clung to them very hard.

Speaker added that the wheeled barn would break apart in an instant if moved that quickly – but Cash ashured Speaker that he could make Nah move at more restrained velocities when needed: “I just wanted to see how fast she’d go”

It took some creative refashioning of half a dozen logs, molded via Shimmer’s protean charms, to make a crude harness for the yeddim that connected to the wheeled barn. When time came to mount up and haul the barn back to Chung Do the question that remained was what to with the prisoners – most of which had regained consciousness since the sudden attack, although waking up to see the barn they had been guarding up on wheels had made some of them question if they had been struck on the head during the fighting.

“My dear captive ponies. I’ve been told that your bonds will dissolve come nightfall, at which time I hope you’ll journey back to Birdstone and tell of how effortlessly the six of us bested you all and made off with the barn. Tell them that Chung Do is neither dead nor defenseless and that Cash Charmer sends his regards” Cash proudly sounded off as he bit down on the heavy rope that Speaker and Shimmer had set up as reigns for the yeddim.

Knowing to brace themselves, and with Cash not speeding up Nah to more than around fifty miles an hour – and doing it slowly at that – the circle managed to remain standing as the wheel barn shuddered, groaned and began to move forward.

“Ok, you know – I think we’ll have to redesign the howdah here if we’re ever going to go as fast as earlier. I’m thinking a thick glass windshields and seating where you can buckle down” Speaker mused as he kept throwing worried glances back at the wheeled barn every time the wooden structure moaned from the quite unatural stress put upon it.

The bizarre one-wagon caravan quickly came across the eastern blockade, with the officer in charge quickly stepping out to ‘greet’ the oncoming yeddim and its guild ma- no hold on, that wasn’t a guild wagon, that was the supply depot barn.

“What in the name of the heavens!? You will stop this instant in the name of Daimyo Crane Lotus!” the stallion shouted, his hoarse voice revealing a seasoned officer who had shouted commands for many years.

Cash looked down from atop the howdah: “I’m riding a barn, your arguments are invalid” and yanked Nah’s reigns, somehow wordlessly commanding the yeddim to gently nudge the felled trees that made up the bulk of the road block aside.

The officer quickly shouted orders to stop the yeddim and kill all the ponies on the howdah. As archer-ponies reared up and drew their bows Speaker threw Gift to cut their bow-strings to great effect. The few soldiers stupid enough try to attack Nah’s large elephant-like feet, which were over twice the width of an adult pony, quickly learned that yeddim have hides so tough it’s not even funny. It was like attacking an old oak with a dull sword: Their spears were more likely to get stuck in the dusty hide than Nah was likely to even give notice of what was going on – incidentally then yeddim were known for being the absolutely dumbest animals in creations, infamous for not even taking notice that they were on fire due to their thick skin under their shaggy pelts.

“The road is cleared – will we actually need to fight here?” a very diminutive Sunrise Glow quietly asked Speaker all the while Cash and Red threw disparaging taunts down at the ponies on the ground.

Looking over the railing of the howdah to assess the situation, Speaker nodded: “No I don’t think so – Cash, lets get going”
“Won’t they just rebuild the blockade?” Red wondered, both looking and sounding eager to jump down and take a few swings at the soldiers on the ground.

With a flutter Shimmer landed and turned back into a pony from having circled the barn as a bird: “That wouldn’t matter – we’re not going back here again anytime soon, plus if Cash’s plan works out this place will get orders to dismantle in a few weeks anyway”

The Birdstone soldiers looked on and stomped their hooves in anger as Cash drove Nah and the barn on towards Chung Do, the blockade soldiers helpless to stop it from happening as Speaker kept disarming them every time they tried to set the barn on fire. Like the with depot Cash gave the soldiers of the blockade a boastful little tirade about the might of Chung Do and that he, Cash Charmer, sent his haughty regards to the rebel Daimyos.

As Nah and the wheeled barn approached the city Shimmer flew ahead with Red to open the city gates. The thick stone doors, another recent addition wrought of stone thanks to Speaker, rolled on something akin to greased ball bearings making the doors swing open surprisingly easily. The city gate had always been big enough to let guild wagons pass through, so the wheeled barn passed through with plenty of room to spare. Cash parked Nah and the barn in the northern market square, dozens of ponies quickly rushing to side of the strange sight to see what was going on.

Cash quickly organized an effort to empty and then dismantle the barn. Speaker co-opted a lotof the timbers and iron fittings, arguing that he would need to make better cargo racks for Nah for the raid on the western supply depot: “We can’t be sure that the roads there will allow for another wheeled barn, heck even going up a hill might break it apart… better we just load up Nah”

It took the rest of the day and most of the subsequent morning, but soon Nah was riding off with a nice clear glass windshield at the front of the howdah made of sand sifted from river silt, giving the circle some reprise as Cash sped the giant and usually lumbering beast along the western trade road, only making a brief stop at the blockade where Red and Shimmer wreaked havoc and had quite the merry time, leaving three dozen thoroughly bludgeoned and largely unconscious (or wishing that they were) Birdstone soldiers and officers behind.

The supply depot was another fortified farm with an ample supply of punching bags for Red, and while Shimmer moving all the cargo from the barn up into the multitude of cargo racks that Speaker had prepared took some time, even in the form of a giant octopus that could grab eight different things at the same time, then Nah was soon moving at breakneck speeds back to Chung Do for unloading.

The last thing on the to-smash list was now the river blockade – to which Shimmer quickly pointed out that yeddim don’t really swim that well… they’re just too heavy, hence why crossings such as the one at Chung Do made for such lucrative trading posts. Cash didn’t seem to see a problem: “Trust me, I know just the thing”

Riding out west of Chung Do and taking the trade road going south, the circle quickly came across the blockade they had once passed when they had traveled to Chung Do in the first place. They left it in a similar state of ruin as the first time, although with less dead bodies littering the ground this time – there being no sense in killing what would soon be loyal Chung subjects once this was all over.

The southern trade road didn’t follow the brown river, so at one point Cash stopped Nah and surveyed the landscape – as well as floating out a rag to wipe the worryingly thick layer of splattered bugs off the windscreen: “Speaker, you do realize that here in the east the insects get a little bigger than average…”

“True – but then again sugar-roasted fleshbettle tastes good, so I don’t see the problem” Speaker mused.
Cash frowned: “Just find a way to clean the windshield that doesn’t involve getting outside with a rag”

Speaker nodded and began to think of means to combine the self-cleansing properties of Cash’s colar of dawn’s cleansing with inanimate objects as Cash readied himself for a grand feat not seen in creation for quite some time:

“Ok, now hold on everyone – I’m really not sure if will work, but if it does it’ll be all kinds of awesome!” Cash shouted, yanking Nah’s reigns.

The yeddim bellowed a long drawn-out rumbling sound and its eyes flashed with bright white light – Shimmer recognized it as a yeddim battle cry of sorts, typically heard in the south among the few remaining wild herds of yeddim when the bulls fight each other for mating rights. However, Nah was female, and moments later Nah trotted up into the air…

“Cash, what in the six shaven testicles of Celestia is going on!?” Red shouted, suddenly finding herself clinging to the railing of the howdah very tightly - again.

“Red, language!” Sunrise admonished.

Cash smirked: “Oh, just another fun riding charm I’ve been dying to try out… because, well… it’s a sometimes horses fly approach, just a little trick I thought would be fun to try”

On one hoof Shimmer was a little relieved since this actually meant that the circle wouldn’t have to rely exclusively on her cloud-conjuring anymore, but on the other hoof the thought of Cash steering a flying yeddim in the same way he’d up until now steered Nah on the ground while going at least a hundred and fifty miles an hour? Sure Shimmer had seen quite a few things in her century long life, some maddening, some amusing – but this… this was new, this was different, so much so that the Lunar didn’t really know how to react. The rape train name made all the more sense now.

Nah rose into the air and somehow began to gain speed. In no time at all the yeddim was going as fast as Cash’s essence could make it move, and the two anchored military junks blockading a narrow point in the brown river quickly appeared over the horizon.

Cash steered Nah in to land on one of the ships after having dropped off Sullen Hoof and Red on the others. Having approached from the direction of the sun the two crew of the two ships couldn’t spot the flying yeddim until it was far too late – Red and Sullen Hoof made quick work of the sailor-ponies on their ship, while Shimmer turned into a large squid and flopped down on the deck of the other ship, grabbing ponies left and right, tossing them all into the river. Without any warning, the crews on the two ships didn’t have time to turn and aim the deck-mounted balistas on the ships, nor bring arms to bear in any coordinated fashion, making the fighting very one-sided.

A half a minute or so into the fighting the amplified voice of Sunrise Glow pierced the noise and shouting of battle: “Sailors, surrender now and no further harm will befall you! Submit now!”

On top of the howdah on Nah stood Sunrise Glow, gleaming like a small sun – not blinding to look at, but undeniably awe-inspiring and authoritarian thanks to her charms, despite her adolescent size. To Red’s annoyance nine out of ten of the remaining sailors surrendered on the spot, giving in to the compulsion that Sunrise had laced her statement with along with another charm she’d used which put the idea into the heads of all those around her who were weak-willed that she had an unquestionable authority over them.

It took only a few more minutes to handle what few remaining brave souls that still dared raise a hoof against their betters – and soon thereafter Cash guided the two junks to Chung Do.

“Cash, what exactly do we need military junks for?” Red wondered, not entirely sure about this acquisition.

Feeling exceedingly happy with how the day’s raids had gone, Cash gladly explained to Red that the junks would do well as river patrol vessels to help ward off pirates – plus he loved the idea of having ships under his command.

Back in Chung Do the two ships were moored and the sailor-ponies were told that while they were free to roam the city, then they wouldn’t really be set free again until the conflict was resolved. This they accepted and understood, especially after seeing that the city was not only plague free, but marvelously rebuild into a grander and far more impressive form. What they didn’t really believe was that Cash expected the conflict to be fully resolved into just two weeks time, but then again if anyone had told them that they would see a flying yeddim earlier that day one would have been accused of being crazy. A few bald sailor-ponies did find the city’s supply of mane-growing potion quite to their liking though. Personally Cash was far more pleased as around that evening the first merchant barge sailed under the new arch of the city wall that extended over the river and came to in the harbor.

In accordance with Cash’s plan the circle waited a week for the news of the raids to spread to Birdstone, plus a few days for the nobles to stew on the news. The circle used the time to prepare, although Cash also had quite a lot of fun in buying nearly everything that the barge merchant had brought in. Speaker and Red spared some more, Speaker finally mastering the Thousand Wounds Gear style he had once created – although for some reason he found the experience oddly less than satisfying.

To Red Speaker’s final recollection of this ancient and strange style chiefly meant that Speaker was suddenly able to punch her once – only to find herself struck thrice in total as Speaker’s essence would trace and repeat his attack twice over like undeniable clockwork, making it impossible to dodge or parry the blows lest she used her more powerful defensive charms.
Speaker himself was less than satisfied: “It still feels as if something is missing…”

“I don’t know – you’ve remastered the style, that’s for sure. Now both you and Sullen Hoof can call yourselves masters” Red said with no small amount of pride in the accomplishments of her fellow Solars.

Speaker didn’t share the notion: “I get what you mean – heck, for a mortal pony to just master an ordinary hoof to hoof style can take years if not decades, and the rest of your life to perfect – we learn advanced magical martial techniques in days and can internalize entire styles in a few months. Maybe it’s because it’s become so easy for me… I just don’t feel the same level of pride I would have before I exalted”

“Oh I know what you mean – we’re solars now! Mastering a single magical martial art is nothing. You need to defeat a giant monster using the style, or do something grand with it – then you’ll feel better, trust me” Red said, the martial glee she was feeling radiating from her in a way that made it almost palpable.

Looking up at the castle from the courtyard, Speaker drew a deep breath: “Perhaps. I do remember doing a lot of really amazing things in the first age. Most of those memories don’t even make sense to me, but I do feel that they were grand things. Oh well, there’s Cash, maybe he has something that can cheer me up”

Into the castle courtyard strode Cash Charmer, followed by the young Shogun Chung Onyx.

“Red, Speaker – if you’ll come with us to the war room – we’ve got things to discuss” Cash calmly stated.

A short while and a cup of tea later the whole circle convened in the war room. Maps of the Chung lands, trophies from battles of yore led, and tapestries on which images of grand battles fought by brave shoguns and fought by mighty pony samurai were drawn, decorated the chamber. The circle assembled around a large table where Cash filled them in on his plans:

“Ok gang, I’ve given how to deal with the rebel nobles a lot of thought. You all already know of the original plan, although with Shimmer’s news of the ragtag nature of the rebel army then it won’t be nearly as useful as we first planned. That’s ok though, because I’ve had Shimmer fly out and have a peek at some of the neighboring territories, and according to her we’re largely in the clear, as everyone else seem to have their own brushfires to put out at the moment” Cash began.

Cash’s revised plan was much of the same: Go to Birdstone, make the nobles cooperate or kill a few of them to make the rest cooperate, then swear them to fealty and sanctify that oath. One thing that Cash had been talking with the young Shogun about was how to handle the issue of the young Shogun himself. Red wasn’t sure what Cash meant, but as Cash explained the idea was simple enough: “I’ve discussed this with Onyx and he’s ok with it: I’ll offer the nobles, as part of the peace negotiations, to form a council through which they’ll lead the Chung lands until Onyx comes of age and can assume the throne”

“What’s to prevent them from assassinating my brother the moment we’re gone?” Red worriedly asked.

Cash pointed out that the terms of the peace negotiations would be bound, on the noble’s side, with a magic oath that Cash would oversee – so they wouldn’t be able to weasel out of the deal without serious repercussions: “Plus, I figure that we can check in on Chung Do every now and then – if for nothing else then to relax and unwind”

“I… bro, you’re ok with this?” Red asked, looking at her younger brother. The young Shogun nodded, appearing both confident in his choice and aware of its implications.

Satisfied with that part of the plan, Cash explained the second part of his scheme: “Ok, now we know that there’s a deathknight influencing the nobles, but we don’t know the extent of it. Red, your mind-clearing charm will be needed, that’s a given – but to get a proper excuse to slap some sense into the nobles you’ll need the right title”

With that the young Shogun stepped up and, in an at least honest attempt at sounding officious, declared that Red’s exile was formally ended – followed by offering every member of the circle the title of samurai in his court.

“Hold on, doesn’t being a samurai come with all kinds of strings attached? I don’t want any of that” Shimmered stated.

Cash reassured Shimmer that this would chiefly be for the title only – and honestly the circle already wielded power far greater than regular samurai ever would in Chung Do, so it was a bit of a moot point: “The trick will be that as samurai of the Shogun’s court we’ll hopefully be afforded a bit more respect by the daimyos – and most importantly, because I’ve studied old court records on Chung etiquette, then as samurai we’ll be able to challenge anyone who questions our honor or loyalty to the Shogun”

“And this is useful, how?” Red wondered.

Speaker sighed: “Simple. As samurai we can challenge any noble who scoffs at us to a duel to the death– it’s basically legitimate way to kill them as opposed to assassination”

“Ok, this I can get behind” Red quickly said, looking eager to start issuing challenges.

Shaking his head, Speaker pointed out that it was for that very reason that dueling was illegal in Lookshy, because it would simply kill too many good and useful unicorns and officers on account of minor disputes.

“Right – but just keep in mind that we’ll only be able to pull this off once. The moment they see our magical martial arts we can’t expect any of them to consent to duels” Cash said, but added that ideally they wouldn’t have to make an example of more than one noble, especially if it could be made into a humiliating enough defeat.

Ultimately the circle decided that it would only really make sense for Red to samurai for this charade, chiefly because the rest of the circle either didn’t want one or in Cash and Speaker’s cases because there were titles far more fitting. Cash would be the Shogun’s official representative and right hoof – a most honorable position, while Speaker came up with the idea of being named the Shogun’s chief apothecary, as a means of both being able to take credit for curing the plague and to properly take umbrage at anyone who dared doubt his word that the city was cured. Sullen Hoof and Sunrise both declined any titles and Shimmer said that she would shift into a flea and hide in Speaker’s ear, so they would have her as a backup in case things went awry, or as a secret spy.

Sunrise, having regained her ability to doubt and ponder her place in Creation, noted that she really wasn’t sure what role she had to play at such talks. At the moment she’d rather stay in Chung Do and continue to rebuild her relationship with the city’s population.

“Oh come on Sunrise, your presence is very much needed. Our sidereal friend said that this deathknight has probably been supplying the nobles with weapons and gods knows what else – when we blow the lid on this thing we’re going to need a strongly moral and righteous preacher to pick up the pieces of their shattered moral compass and give the nobles something to rally behind that won’t lead them astray” Cash eloquently stated.

Maybe it was the prospect of being able to redeem herself through righteous actions, or being able to redeem others that appealed to her, but Sunrise slowly began to nod at Cash’s words and ultimately seemed quite positive at going to Birdstone.

Sullen Hoof excused his reluctance to partake in the titles and whatnot by stating that he wanted to do something akin to what Shimmer seemed to be planning: “I’ll come along as your servant and cook. Having seen the layout of the castle and the way these nobles ignore their servants, then that should let me roam freely and listen in or ask questions where none of you can – plus I’ll be able to spot any attempts to poison your food from miles away”

With everything decided the circle went to bed, the plan being to head to Birdstone early the next morning.

Later in his chambers, as Speaker was getting ready to go to sleep, there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Speaker called out, a little annoyed that anyone would disturb him at such a late hour, especially as he hadn’t heard any hoof-steps outside in the corridor.

Shimmer crept in silently, giving Speaker an apologetic look.

Sighing, Speaker flipped out of bed and floated up an ember from his chamber’s fireplace and used it to light the candle on the nightstand next to his bed: “What do you want?”

“I… we need to talk” Shimmer hesitantly said.

Speaker took a deep breath, not really sure what to say – and honestly not really in the mood for much talk at the moment. On some level he knew that if he cared more for Shimmer he would be more accommodating, but right now she was making him miss out on sleep. The friendship he felt towards Shimmer had its limits.

“It’s about the lunar that attacked Cash… and Sunrise” Shimmer said, walking up to Speaker and sitting down on his bed. The bed creaked ever so slightly, the shogunate era jadesteel springs inside the thick canvas mattress yielding softly as they had been designed to do well over a thousand years ago.

Speaker gestured for Shimmer to speak her mind and sat down next to her.

“This last week… I’ve been sending messages back and forth with my elders and a few other Lunar friends about what happened to Cash and Sunrise. I just got a message back from a Lunar who safeguards an ancient library full of salvaged first age literature. He looked up stories of first age solars who did similar things to what Sunrise had done and found a match” Shimmer said in a decidedly somber tone.

Speaker gave Shimmer a raised eyebrow: “That bad?”

Shimmer nodded: “It actually made sense. Do you remember back when you lost your mind after we got out of Denansdor? At one point you said to Sunrise ‘The Hierophant will not rise again’ while you were throwing a fit”

“You’ll forgive me if my memories of that time are a little hazy – I wasn’t really myself at the time” Speaker noted, furiously trying to recall any connection between Sunrise and the title of Hierophant.

“The records my friend found say that the Hierophant was the oldest of three Zenith caste solars who survived the primordial war without dying and reincarnating at some point, and thus became the undisputed high priest of the Solar deliberative – any of this sound familiar?” Shimmer inquired with a worried tone.
Speaker suddenly got a strangely distant look in his eyes: “Oh…”

Sensing that Speaker was starting to remember, Shimmer continued as she read from a scroll: “Correct me if I’m wrong here ok? This stuff was part of a travel advisory, specifically on how to treat the mortal pony citizens of the Hierophant’s private and most holy prefecture: It specifically advises extreme caution as the Hierophant’s subjects were known to be under multiple layers of quite obvious and intrusive mind control to enforce and spread the Hierophant’s creed – to the point that they would often attack mortal foreigners who failed to show the same levels of constant reverence to the most high, that’d be Celestia. All of the prefecture’s landlocked neighbors have… had closed their borders to the Hierophant’s, citing themselves not being worthy, but any pony can see that it’s to avoid spontaneous crusade-like riots spilling over their borders”

“No, that… that sounds about right” Speaker said, sounding browbeaten and sad, now that he recalled many of the less savory aspects of Sunrise’s past incarnation and the first age in general.

Shimmer folded the scroll away into elsewhere: “My friend was quite surprised to hear that you guys had managed to stop her, but… do you think what happened here is what happened back then to?”

“I don’t know. It’s really hard to compare. Me and Sunri- the Hiero-, no… I don’t remember the name of her last incarnation, although I do recall it was a stallion that bore the exaltation. No, we all exalted at the Ochre Fountain, at the very cradle of pony civilization. We were still basically tribal ponies who lived under the supervision of the dragon kings who to us were impossible, immortal and godlike – until we became impossible, immortal and godlike. I guess under those circumstances a pony would have plenty of things to be afraid of as well, especially with the knowledge that you would eventually have to fight the creators of the reality you lived in. In that sense it’s not impossible that the same happened back then, but I’m not sure” Speaker mused, his forehead a sea of wrinkles as his brows almost appeared to do battle as to which would make him look the most worried.

“Well, it’s good that you all caught this – I’m sure the silver pact will appreciate it, but that brings me to the second topic…” Shimmer said, fidgeting with her hooves.

Speaker put a hoof over Shimmer’s and tried to calm her: “What is it? You mentioned something about the Lunar who attacked Cash, Lilith was it?”

“Yes. Do you remember anything about Cash’s past incarnation? Shimmer began, giving Speaker a look that was both worried and quizzical.

Squinting for a moment as he tried to recall an image of a first age Cash Charmer, Speaker ultimately shrugged: “A really good diplomat, died a number of times during the primordial wars, but stayed alive for the most time following that?”
“There’s a few more things to that, especially with his final first age incarnation, but I’m not surprised that you didn’t know any of that” Shimmer said, sounding not disappointed, but a little sad that she would now have to break the story to Speaker like this.

It was a tawdry tale of over three hundred years of chronic and systemic physical and mental abuse, none of which Lilith had been able to speak up about due to the then-Cash’s mind control charms in combination with the extremely powerful bond Lilith had to him – a bond that was even greater than that Shimmer had to Speaker. While the revelation that Sunrise’s past incarnation’s overzealous use of mind control charms on the ponies around her then incarnation might not have been entirely by her own accord, then Cash’s past life painted a different picture, one well known now by most Lunars of the silver pact as a cautionary tale of how abusive a Solar could be in the first age: “She exalted young and was, as was custom then, married to her solar mate very quickly. He exploited her in every way he could, using her regeneration charms and his mind control to hide what he did perfectly. Well over five hundred miscarriages due to his cruelty… and she couldn’t speak a word of it until her mate finally died during the usurpation, at which point she fled civilization and almost went feral”

Speaker wasn’t quite sure what to say, but if it was true (Something his truth-telling charm confirmed, at least to the point that Shimmer seemed believe what she was saying) then it certainly helped explain why Lilith assaulted Cash so savagely.
“So that’s why she didn’t want him learning that charm” Speaker finally said, breaking the long silence.

Shimmer gave Speaker a guilty look: “Same reason I’m not that keen on you trying to learn it. It would have allowed Cash to enslave Lilith from halfway across creation, again – and while I honestly can’t imagine you ever doing something like that, then I would still prefer you not learn that charm either”

“Ok, but tell me – did your friend find anything about me, Red or Sully?” Speaker wondered.

Shimmmer shook her head, her purple dreadlocks flopping about lightly: “I didn’t ask, and the favor this Lunar owed me didn’t warrant that much research”

Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Speaker looked Shimmer in the eyes: “Thank you for telling me this… and I think you should show that scroll to Sunrise, she deserves to know what her actions could have led to. She’s really reigned herself in, but Cash says that the best way to help her is to talk to her and let her learn from her mistakes. I think that scroll will be a great lesson she can learn from, as well as something she can take solace in having already averted”

“Not really sure she’ll take it that well, but ok” Shimmer said, shrugging lightly and getting up from the bed.

Flipping over into the bed properly and floating the covers back over himself, Speaker got one last though before Shimmer turned to leave: “What about Cash, should we start keeping an eye on him to see if he becomes a… bad pony?”

“No, we won’t have to. Lilith was the greatest Lunar huntress of her time, now probably only Luna can be said to be better than her. She’ll keep tabs on him no matter what we do… and take him out if she see’s any of his old self in him” Shimmer dejectedly said, knowing quite well that none in the circle would have any chance at taking on Lilith to defend Cash should that even be possible.

Speaker didn’t catch the subtlety of Shimmer’s mournful tone, but got that she wasn’t happy about it: “We should tell him”
“Lilith would know if Cash started acting differently just to fool her – Lunar hunting charms for someone that powerful can’t really be fooled” Shimmer said.

Giving Shimmer that unique kind of old pony smile, the type hardened by sorrow and a life of trials and tribulations, but still somehow with a little hope in it, the twilight caste Solar noted: “Cash might be selfish, but he’s not cruel about it. He wants to life a life of luxury and peace by making all the ponies around him so content and happy that he doesn’t have to exert any effort to govern them. I’m certain that if Lilith just understood that she’d warm up to him”

Shimmer could see the logic that Speaker was using, but at the same time it was clear to her that Speaker didn’t fully understand the centuries long life of terror that Lilith had lived through. Closing the door to Speaker’s quarters she made her way to Sunrise’s.