Heart Speaker – or should he go exclusively by the name Bright Machine Speaker now? He really needed to decide on that, but this wasn’t the time to ponder such things – stood before the three gods that ruled the city-state of Great Forks. Around him were his friends Cash Charmer and Last Shimmer, as well the stern solar filly Sunrise Glow and her two henchponies, one of which was probably also a solar, although the three gods did not appear to know that.

The Talespinner cleared his throat – his yellow aura fluttering slightly: “Well my good Lord Solar, if you would let me tell you a little story that I heard while in Lookshy a few days ago…”

Speaker, being from Lookshy, started to feel a little trapped: Was the Talespinner going to tell the story of how Speaker had supposedly tried to kill the prince of a hundred kingdom’s Daimyo? Maybe the god was going to accuse Speaker of coming to Great Forks to kill them? Nodding slightly, Speaker beckoned the god to tell his story.

“I was just enjoying myself in a tea house in Lookshy’s market district when the news broke, a messenger running by, shouting quite loudly…” the Talespinner began.

Feeling a quick tug on his shirt, Speaker looked down to see Sunrise Glow whispering to him in a grave tone of voice: “Never disturb a god drinking tea – never!”

Without fully understanding the seriousness of Sunrise Glow’s little lesson, Speaker just nodded and looked back at the Talespinner.

“The news was quite interesting – and those who heard it around me had very mixed reactions. The news? The Scarlet Empress is gone” the Talespinner said, with an almost sad tone to his voice, but only almost.

There was a very pregnant pause following this bombshell. The Scarlet Empress, ruler of the Realm – gone? Was she dead? How? When? Where? The Bloody Red Queen of the Equestrian Realm, the most hated despot in creation, gone? Speaker took a step back, first looking at the three – they seemed calm… but that figured, as they would have known this already. Looking around himself Speaker saw that his friends were more on his level: Cash Charmer appeared lost in thought, no doubt pondering how to exploit this news. Shimmer was far more exuberant, leaping in Speaker’s arms: “Oh this is wonderful! With the empress gone the realm won’t stand a chance against the return of the Solars!”

“Well, yes and no – that’s still an unknown” the Dayshield said, clarifying that the Scarlet Empress had been revealed to have gone missing at the new year celebrations at Calibration five years ago, the story first leaking now as it had become impossible to hide the fact any longer. What exactly had happened to her Scarletness was actually unknown.

Now, the Scarlet Empress had quite a reputation. Many wondered if she was immortal. She was a dragon-blooded unicorn pony who had, up until her disappearance, lived and ruled the realm of Equestria for over seven hundred years – with even the most powerful of dragon-blooded usually not living beyond three hundred before dying from old age. Her power had been unrivaled, despite her inability to see the river provinces of the east properly conquered during her reign.

“The noble houses of Equestria are reacting to the news in... interesting ways – we’ve gotten reports of a lot of realm legions being recalled to the isle. I’m guessing that the houses are gearing up for a civil war for the throne” the Dayshield added, her voice hinting of both interest in the battles that might fall under her purvey as god of battles fought without bloodshed but via diplomacy, but also worry as the fighting might spread from the blessed isle to the rest of creation.

Speaker thought about these facts for a few moments. It made sense. Of what he’d learnt of the realm as part of his life and education in Lookshy, then the Scarlet Empress had been very good at centralizing power and giving it all to herself, making it impossible for would-be usurpers to get rid of her. But with her gone… there’s nobody in control. This did lead Speaker to one question: “Right, so you brought me here to tell me this? Or… what?”

The Talespinner smiled, appearing amused over Speaker’s bluntness. The Dreamweaver fluttered over in front of Speaker, her hooves not moving but merely floating over the polished stone floor: “No, my dear Solar – we want to know if you had anything to do with this.”

Again there was a silence in the room. Speaker dared not look away from the entrancing eyes of the Dreamweaver – it was as if her eyes were drilling into his very soul.

Cash was quick to react to this: “I can assure you that he did not. Speaker exalted a little over a month ago in the hundred kingdoms – and I’ve been with him the whole time, there’s no way he could have made off with her Scarletness five years ago – at least not as a Solar”

The three gods nodded intermittently, signifying their various degrees of believing what Cash was saying.

“Very well, the only reason we wished to know of this was because the danger that harboring the abductor of the empress would pose” the Dayshield said, sounding understandably apologetic.

With these unpleasantries out of the way, the three said that Speaker and his followers were free to leave, with the added detail that Speaker should inform one of their officials of where he was staying, as they might have an offer for his services ready in a few days.

Speaker would have tried to graciously accept and leave, but Cash and Sunrise both managed to stop Speaker before he accepted anything. The Three left, fading into nothing as they resumed their duties, politely bowing as they dematerialized.

Leaving the temple, Speaker was approached by a very disinterested-looking pony, the official from the ministry of residency. Pulling out a wax-covered tablet with a hoof and holding a writing stylus pulled from ornate leather saddlebags with his mouth, the pony said that he had been instructed to get where Speaker was living while in Great Forks, and in the case of Speaker not having a place to live then he had been authorized to set up housing for him.

Speaker was about to graciously accept the offer of free housing, but Sunrise Glow quickly stated that Speaker was staying with her in the north quarter of the city.

“Really? Are you certain you would not prefer a town house in the eastern quarter?” The official asked Speaker, seemingly ignoring the hooded filly trying to speak for the Solar.

Again answering for Speaker, Sunrise Glow reasserted that Speaker would be staying with her.

Speaker couldn’t get himself to tell Sunrise to shut up, although he would honestly have preferred to choose himself - he wasn't even sure what he was passing up on.

Walking up through the crowds of the temple district, with colorful powders being flung left and right, euphoric singers and dancers at every shrine and an endless sea of noise it was difficult to see where one was going. However, the moment they left the temple district and trotted into the northern district, Speaker suddenly understood why the official suggested that he live in another part of town: The northern quarter was a slum.

Densely-packed tenements and slave dormitories took up most of the district. What few shops and stalls there were appeared to cater mostly to the fruit-tenders, street sweepers and building washers that lived in the district – there were a lot of tool makers, rag vendors and sellers of soap along the streets. There were equally long columns of slaves walking to and from their dormitories, led by pony slave-drivers clad in rough leather garbs, holding whips in their mouths.

If Speaker felt uneasy with going into the slums, Cash appeared positively repulsed. Indeed, even with his worn pirate captain outfit, Cash looked very out of place. The ponies that looked on as Sunrise Glow led her two henchponies along with Speaker, Shimmer and Cash were dressed mostly in grey and brown sack cloth, if wearing anything at all, as most of the slaves wore nothing at all, displaying their shame for all to see.

Sunrise Glow led the group into the courtyard of an apartment building behind a thick wooden gate. Okay, calling it apartments was a stretch: It was the courtyard of a large and filthy tenement, in the middle of which was a small shrine… or a wooden shed, with a few banners hung on its walls. Laundry and other knick-knack hung out of the largely shutter-less windows facing the courtyard and the ground around the shrine was littered with trash and splatterings of pony droppings and dirty dish-water, as well as anything else anyone just chucked out their window when they didn’t need it anymore.

Speaker sympathized with Cash as he recalled the gleaming palaces of crystal and gems him and his fellow Solars had lived in back in the first age.

Opening the door to the shed, Sunrise Glow ushered the others inside. A big brownish candle with a thick wick stood in one corner, giving off an uncomfortable odor, while the rest of the shrine appeared to be decorated with exceedingly humble hoof-made figures and idols, all venerating the many aspects of Celestia, the most high of the gods. The shrine was roughly four by six yards, with barely enough room for all six ponies along with the sparse furniture and decorations.

“Okay, this is just sad” Cash said, shaking his head.

Ignoring what Cash had said, Sunrise Glow trotted up behind a wooden alter and floated up a stick to slide open a hatch in the roof of the shed, allowing a beam of sunlight to fall down on the altar. Speaker quickly recognized that the altar and the hatch were set so the noonday sun would always hit the altar.

Pulling down her hood, Sunrise glow revealed a luxurious, long and bright orange mane that had previously been hidden quite well by having it tied up in buns around the back of her head: “Finally some privacy – I wish we could have gotten here before the enforcers picked you up Speaker, but at least we’re here now”

“So… formal introductions?” Speaker said, looking first at Sunrise Glow, then at the two other ponies next her and Cash Charmer.

“An excellent idea” said the thuggish-looking dark-brown mare as she stepped forward with a single heavy stomp.

Activating her caste mark, Red proudly declared with a voice fit for commanding legions: “I am Red, daughter of Chung Deep Root, the warlord and Shogun of the Chung lands in the hundred kingdoms – and by Celestia I am exalted of the Dawn caste”

“Shouldn’t that be Chung Red if you’re from a house of nobility or repute?” Cash wondered.

Red’s eyes soured slightly, looking down for a moment before they rose again to meet Cash’s gaze: “Many years ago, during a sparring match with my late older brother, the then heir, I accidentally, well... killed him. Well… he died, it was an accident, I swear, but my father the Shogun didn’t have a choice: I could either commit seppuku or flee into exile, so I don't use my family name while in self-imposed exile. I am dead to my family either way. Been living as a mercenary since, exalted a while ago, and now I’m here”

Red added that she certainly intended to earn her name again – or possibly an even better one – as Sunrise had apparently suggested.

“Why not let our guests introduce themselves” Sunrise Glow suggested, looking at Cash, Shimmer and Speaker from behind the altar.

Cash motioned for Speaker to introduce himself first, and so Speaker explained his plight – recounting most of what had happened up until arriving in Great Forks, ending with him noting that he was exalted of the Twilight Caste. Red was impressed by his military record, and Speaker agreed to tell Red all about it at a later date. Speaker explained that he would like to see more intelligent solutions to wars and conflict between ponies, as he felt that there was far too much ignorance and stupidity muddying the waters of creations in this age.

Last Shimmer then spoke up, flashing her caste mark which was a round, empty circle of silvery moonlight on her brow: “My name is Last Shimmer, of the Sun King Seneschals – the faction of Lunars that held on hope for the return of the Solars. By the fickle mare of the moon I am exalted in the No Moon caste”

“Factions of Lunars?” Sunrise quizzically asked.

Shimmer explained that over the thousands of years with no Solars, many Lunars either lost hope or accepted that they had to plan for a future with no Solars – so many currently operate with plans that do not account for or need Solar intervention or assistance: “…this might also mean that not all of them will be too happy to hear of you lot by the way, just so you know”
Cash chuckled a little and flashed his caste mark: “They’ll learn to accept us – or we’ll just make them. Speaking of which, I am Cash Charmer, of the Eclipse caste”

“Seriously? Then we’re all here! This is great!” Red announced triumphantly, looking over at Sunrise Glow with a big smile on her somewhat scared face.

Having essentially revealed that there was a perfect circle of Solars present, Speaker, Cash and Shimmer all looked at the straw hat-wearing stallion. Who was he? He had been silent since they had met, except during his comment in the temple of the three about what he’d heard from immaculate monks in Nexus.

“Come on, if you can’t show them, who can you?” Red bluntly stated, floating the straw hat off the stallion’s head. The beige-coated stallion, with a short-cropped mane and long flat tail, gave Red a mean stare.

“Very well, I guess that fate means us to work together” the stallion said, looking down as he reached up with a hoof and… changed his face… no wait, there were some clicking sounds, and suddenly the previously plain looking stallion had a short-cropped tail and he was wearing some kind of golden helmet or mask. Around the stallion’s face was a mask of angular plates that Speaker was certain were orichalcum. A magic mask that changed the color of your coat and mane? From the looks of it, it had probably even changed the appearance of the stallion’s face. Speaker found this most impressive, although he did wonder what the pony really looked like under the mask.

“I am Sullen Hoof, Night caste – master chef from Nexus” the stallion declared with a stern and proud voice of an indeterminate river province accent, bowing gracefully as the mark of the Night caste appeared on his brow, a symbol identical to Shimmer’s, only it was golden instead of silvery.

Red laughed: “Master chef? Come now, you can do so much more than cook – besides, you were never formally educated as one, so you can’t really say you’re a master”

“Okay, so I’m also a con-pony, forger, thief, contortionist and… let me think… oh yes! Master Chef, by the will of the heavens” Sullen Hoof declared, looking a bit like a thief proudly announcing a list of his misdeeds to a judge.

“Okay, thief and chef – how does that work?” Cash wondered. Speaker already had a fairly good idea, for Sullen Hoof’s introduction had stirred memories of legendary feasts in the first age.

Sullen Hoof explained that his skills of deception, disguise and trickery were originally developed as he had always aspired to be a chef, but had never had the proper credentials to work under the great chefs in Nexus’s more famous restaurants: “But a fake signature here, a stolen apprentice outfit there and they’ll let anyone into their kitchens. I have worked with some of the greatest chefs outside of the realm, although they never knew who I really was. It was through them I was introduced to their cult of Robed in Splendor, the chairman of fine cuisine… and as fate would have it the immaculate raided the cult that night, but it was also there I exalted and was subsequently chased out of Nexus, arriving here a few weeks ago”

“Robed in Splendor – I remember him, have you had contact with him since?” Speaker wondered.

Sullen Hoof nodded, explaining that the god of fine cuisine indeed did come to him after he had left Nexus, agreeing to train him in an ancient martial art: “And so, by the will of heaven, I will master the Orichalcum Chef Style, and I will become the greatest chef in creation!”

Speaker nodded respectfully, for he was already salivating at the memories of what Sullen Hoof had cooked up in the first age using that style.

“Oh come on, kung-fu cooking? That’s just silly. Why not practice some real martial arts, instead of throwing around rolling pins” Cash said laughing, finding the whole idea quite ridiculous.

Sullen Hoof sized up Cash and shook his head, then reared up and stomped down his fore hooves hard: “Fool! You can assault any pony with your hooves, but I can defeat anything with a tongue and a nose by assaulting their senses – when I have mastered this style, shoguns and guild factors alike will throw themselves at my hooves to just get a whiff of what I create. I will take their greed and vanity and use it against them to make them suffer as those they subjugate – all of creation will be at the mercy of the rolling pins I throw around”

Raising a hoof as if to make a rebuttal, Cash paused: “...Ya, okay, but I will reserve judgment for when I actually try some of your cooking”

Sunrise Glow finished the show and tell session by once again introducing herself as a Zenith caste Solar, with a mission from Celestia to restore faith in the most high.

“Well you’re sure doing a dandy job, with this most resplendent of temples you have here” Cash snarked.

Sunrise calmly explained that she and the cult of the illuminated, the cult that she was part of – and since her exaltation, defacto leader of this local chapter – had been petitioning the ministry of worship for a larger shrine for months, but had always been turned down.

“Ya, the Dayshield said she didn’t want to talk about that back at our little audience” Speaker recalled.

Cash nodded, adding that for the love of Celestia: “Speaker, you don’t get to talk anymore when we deal with heads of state, gods or anyone else for that matter. Ever. You have the blunt social grace of a sack of onions, just saying”

“Speaking of being blunt…” Speaker retorted, giving Cash a raised eyebrow.

Cash sighed and put a friendly hoof on Speaker’s shoulders: “Speaker, friend, you read like an open book – and I don’t know what the three have planned for you, but if there’s going to be any negotiations for what they want, I want to head up those negotiations”

Speaker begrudgingly conceded to Cash’s point, although Cash was far from done: “I’ve seen you ‘haggle’ with inn-keepers… you’re a pony pleaser who tries to ameliorate all ponies, but business is all about getting the best deal, which means that someone will ultimately have to get a bad deal”

“Alright, have mercy – I’m a doctor, not a diplomat” Speaker said, yielding to Cash’s verbal barrage.

What followed was an uncomfortable silence as the six celestial exalted ponies had to start coming up with ideas on what to do next…

To break the silence Shimmer turned into a seagull and flew up and landed on Speaker’s head. If it hadn’t been for her having braided his long black mane she could probably have nested in it.

“How about lunch?” Sullen Hoof suggested, everyone quickly agreeing – Shimmer screeching since she was a seagull, but she appeared to nod as well.

The circle of Solars left the shed and entered into what appeared to be where Sunrise Glow, Red and Sullen Hoof were currently living… and it wasn’t much of an improvement from the shed. It was one of the apartments, on the third story, facing the courtyard. The apartment was roughly the same size as the shed, with one window and one door out. A tiny fireplace probably allowed for some heating, although not much, and a bucket in the corner allowed for… relief, when needed. There were four bedrolls spread out on the floor, taking up most of the space, although there would be room for six if need be.

Cash once again asked out loud: “We passed up free accommodations in a town house… to this?”

“I see no reason why we need to indulge – we have a roof over our head, and Sullen Hoof can cook quite well on a sandal-string budget” Sunrise pointed out.

That was it. Cash had endured quite enough at the hoof of this little upstart filly. How she had exalted as a Solar was beyond him, but this? This was too much: “Okay little filly – here’s what we are going to do. Me and Speaker are going to march down to the ministry of housing, get a nice place to stay, while you lot can stay here with your bucket and bedrolls. I did not exalt to lower my standards of living. I have a ship to sell, and I’ll at the very least use some of that money to get a nice new tang-zhuang-style silk jacket and nice new shoes. Come on, Speaker”

To say that Speaker felt torn would be an understatement. On one side he could very well understand Cash taking issue with staying in a slum – but at the same time, Speaker really didn't want to split up his circle! They were meant to be together! He could remember them working great wonders back in the first age, so letting simple problems like where to stay get in the way of such things seemed silly.

“Come on Cash – do you think we plan to stay here forever? We only stayed here waiting for you lot – well, waiting for Shimmer and Speaker. She came here a while ago, found us, said she was looking for her Solar mate, said she’d be back in a few weeks – we’ve been waiting for you before deciding our next move” Sullen Hoof exclaimed, suddenly darting up in front of Cash Charmer with great speed, blocking the door out.

Cash remained adamant that he wanted to sell the boat and at least get some better clothes, but accepted that staying at the tenement, as it clearly wasn’t meant to be permanent.

What followed was Sullen Hoof pulling a pair of saddlebags out of elsewhere, which turned out to be full of fruits, vegetables and rice: “All politely donated by the central slave dormitory kitchen. The manager thins the stews they make for the slaves as much as possible, taking home all the good stuff. I’ve been having fun stealing it back, keeping the slaves well fed and keeping enough to feed the rest of us”

Speaker was impressed, Shimmer even more so – as she changed back into a pony and commended Sullen Hoof on his efforts.

“Please, call me Sully” the pink-maned stallion said with a smile.

While Shimmer and Sullen worked together to make lunch, Red and Speaker got talking while Sunrise Glow had to leave on an errand.

Red wanted to know more about Speaker’s military career, finding Speaker’s very limited experience with ponies in magical power-armor endlessly fascinating. Speaker’s experience with the power armor mainly consisted of removing it to get to the injuries of the unicorns inside, something that was very difficult to do in the field without either damaging the precious armor or the injured pony inside. Still, Red was quite intrigued.

Speaker on the other hand was curious about Red’s name: “You said your father was called Chung Deep Root?”

“That sparing accident, it was many years ago, back when I was just a little filly. My father trained all of his foals how to fight from an early age. I’ve worked for several mercenary outfits since then, exalting a month and a half ago when I was on patrol and we got ambushed by the same bandits we’d been hired to kill off. The fang I was in was wiped out, except me, I got knocked out” Red began.

Speaker listened intently, Red reminding him of so many 7th legion ponies retelling war stories, as Red explained how she was then taken to the bandit chief and offered to tell where the rest of her mercenary outfit was camped in exchange for her life, lest she become a camp-mare to be passed around for all the stallions there to relieve themselves in. Then she exalted, choosing never take the coward’s option: “It got messy, but none of the bandits lived to tell about it. I took what valuables they had and bought passage here, arrived just in time to meet Shimmer”

“Okay, but what does this have to do with your name?” Speaker wondered.

Red shrugged and bellowed out a hearty laughter: “Isn’t it obvious!? I’ve never had a cute-cenera. Red is my foal name”
“Well, shouldn’t you then choose an adult name?” Speaker again wondered.

Red shook her head: “I lost part of my name once. If I am to get a new one I’ll earn it”

While he was about to comment that exalting as a Solar was as good an excuse as any to pick a new name, Shimmer announced that lunch was served. Sunrise Glow returned shortly thereafter, informing the circle that the other illuminate cultists had been informed of their arrival and would like to meet them all at sundown at the shrine.

“Hopefully not inside it – there won’t be room” Cash commented. Sunrise Glow ignored the comment while Red and Shimmer both giggled.

Over lunch the circle agreed on an at least a temporary plan on what to do. Sully needed a few days to wrap up some loose ends in the slave barrack food distribution administration to expose the corrupt manager, and Sunrise along with Cash both seemed to ponder how to best utilize everypony’s strengths and abilities best.

Speaker was quick to point out that as Solars, in a world largely either hostile or at best indifferent to what they were, then they needed a safe base of operations, supply lines and a long-term plan. Red was quick to joke how Speaker was sounding like some would-be general.

“No, not general. I don’t lead ponies into battle – can’t stand to fight when there’s no need for it” Speaker noted.

Red was just as quick to point out that the ‘need’ to fight was a very vague concept, but Speaker explained that generals and whatnot tended to decide when to send ponies to their death: “I prefer to keep ponies alive. I’ll fight in self-defense, to defend others, but not to conquer”

“And yet you speak of bases of operations and supply lines as if planning a war” Cash commented, chewing on a very tasty mix of rice and some sort green bean paste that had been seasoned with things Cash didn’t know the name of – but it sure was tasty.

Speaker explained that by base of operations he meant a safe place they either hide or fight from when the wyld hunt would come.

“Hold on, wyld hunt? You never said anything about a wyld hunt being after you.” Sunrise said, sounding a bit like a very young grandmother disappointed over hearing that unwanted guests would be showing up at her dinner party.

Shimmer told of how Speaker’s name would soon be well known throughout the scavenger lands due to the circumstances of his fight with a Daimyo’s son. Sunrise noted that this would complicate things, but Sullen Hoof added that it wasn’t all bad: “Remember, the brightest light casts the darkest shadows – so if Speaker becomes known as a Solar, it might be easier to hide our activities by passing them off as his”

“That’s brilliant – why didn’t I think of that?” Cash said, his mouth half-full of tasty green bean paste and rice.
Speaker said that he would like to visit the house of learning in the temple district. He’d heard of it back when he studied medicine in Lookshy, since his teachers were from Great Forks, and now that he’d exalted it was clear to him that his knowledge of history and recent events was sorely lacking.

Red couldn’t see the point in such studies – but Speaker explained: “I remember almost everything my past incarnation did. My head is full of priceless trivia and knowledge from the first age. But if that information is to be of any use to us, I need to know at least roughly what happened since my past life ended and my mortal life began. I remember cities, fortresses, names, locations, gods that owed the past me favors – but if I don’t know where they are now, then I’m of little use beyond patching you up after a fight”

Sunrise agreed that bringing Speaker up to speed wouldn’t be a bad idea – as she was actually very curious about the history of the Solars. The two agreed that Speaker would spend some time in the house of learning and then give the rest of the circle a nice history of everything as he remembered it.

“You sure you can learn that much in just a few days?” Sullen Hoof wondered. Speaker explained the nature of his educational charm as well as the fact that a Twilight caste exaltation automatically grants great knowledge and insight into history and lore, so this wouldn’t be as much learning new things, as it would be a quick brush-up of things he already knew.
“What’ll you be doing in the mean time then?” Shimmer enthusiastically asked Red as they were finished the meal.

Red glanced at Sunrise, the filly nodding back at Red. Red then explained that the illuminate cultists had, ever since Sunrise Exalted, been ‘bothered’ by local north district gangs who had been harassing the cult for protection money, with the alternative being the cult leaving Great Forks: “I can’t determine if they’re being paid by the enforcers or the three to just keep worship of Celestia down, or if it’s just a gang trying to shake the cult down, but I’ve been having great fun beating them senseless and then handing them over to the enforcers – but they always show up again, so they’ve either paid off the enforcers or there’s something fishy going on”

Cash noted that he could be very persuasive, especially if Red could catch some of the gang-ponies, so Cash could give them the choice between submitting to an oath never to attack the cultists again, plus them telling the circle what was going on, or... worse. If they were to break this oath they would suffer an unfortunate accident that would most certainly cripple the pony for life. Explaining how his magic oaths worked, Red eagerly agreed that Cash’s idea sounded good, as it would solve the problem with the gangs both in the short term but also on the long term.

Speaker felt that it was a bit harsh, but could understand the necessity when dealing with violent thugs – if all they understood and dealt in was violence, then talking to them in the same language wasn’t that unreasonable.

Cash, as he’d already stated, would spend the time selling his junk – adding that he would try to make those profits increase with a little day-trading, to at the very least buy some nicer accommodations for the cult and the circle.