The Secrets of Caduceus

Loneliness, emptiness, sadness. These feelings mean nothing to me anymore.

The feeling of loneliness is dissolves in the presence of my new acquaintances, this rag-tag team of infiltrators who all have one wish. To seek my father.

The feeling of emptiness has fallen to my new name: Apollo Coronis. The name that gives me an identity, I am a living being with a purpose now. To find my father.

And sadness is replaced with the beacon of hope that is Caduceus, the City of Hope. The city where my father is trapped.

This dark room I'm sitting in, this mysterious watch-like device on my right fore hoof, the mares and colt sitting at the table across from me, and this strange fortified town in the middle of an empty desert. All of these things raise questions for me, and each question requires an answer that I cannot find so easily.

The four mares sit as silently as ever on the opposite side of the table.

From left to right... There's Thorns, darkness' own rose. I wouldn't call her a ninja exactly, since she seems to have preference for wearing beautiful dresses similar to that of the lollita style. But she certainly enjoys hiding in the dark.

Next to her is Dove, the beautiful yet fierce eye in the sky gunner. Apparently she's an ex-soldier of some sort, and that's the reason behind her excessive collection of firearms.

Second from the right is Strings, the diplomat with a harp of gold. Literally, her harp is pure gold apparently. If we need someone from the other side of the battlefield, she's the one to call. Some suspect it's the magic of her harp, or maybe it's the magic of her horn, others believe it's simply her charm.

And finally, on the far right, is Ace: The jack of all trades who always takes the chance. According to Black Blizzard she has a habit of making the impossible become possible, which is why she's the leader in this group of strange individuals. Gambling is her game and Ace is her name.

"M.A.S.T." Black Blizzard never explained to me what this watch-like thing is.

"You'll find out what it's used for soon. Hopefully your father can explain it." He says, dodging the question.

I sigh, and let him continue with the explanation of his plan.

"Alright, our goal right now is to find this pony." His horn glows, and a polaroid photo floats from his vest pocket and onto the table.

It's a photo of a young red stallion who looks to be about my age. No horn, no wings, just a simple earth pony like me as well. His brown mane runs down to the base of his neck, it's quite long. In the photo, he's wearing a black tuxedo in the middle of what looks like some sort of formal dance.

"And who exactly is this stuck up-looking snob?" Dove, the green pegasus asks.

Black Blizzard introduces our target, "Tailor Velvet. He is the personal wardrobe designer of a certain pony, someone who has a lot of power in Caduceus."

"You're either referring to George or Martha. Am I correct?" Strings asks.

He answers, "You're incorrect. But very close nonetheless. I am speaking of Martha's niece, Aura."

"You mean the psychic? How is she important to us?" Dove asks.

"Think about it. Martha loves her niece very much, so we get Tailor to lead us to her. And then we--" Black says, as I interrupt him.

"You're going to take a hostage?!" I blurt out.

Ace follows up the conversation, "We're not below taking prisoners. As long as it gets us to our main goal, nopony gets hurt."

I decide to shut up once again, in fear of being embarrassed further.

"There's a formal social event at the Gemstone Glass, the famed ballroom castle in the centre of the white region in Caduceus... Right here." Black's horn glows again, and a folded map floats from under that table and onto the table. It's a map of a large circular city. Half of the city is filled with white buildings, and the other half of the circular city is filled with black buildings. A red circle is drawn around a specific building in the white area.

"Why is the north half of the city black, and the south half white?" I ask.

"Ask your father." Ace says.

Blizzard continues, "At the social event, Aura will be confined to her room. She's currently suffering from some sort of cold, which leaves her completely defenseless."

"Don't important people usually have body guards?" I ask.

Blizzard nods, "Aura has specifically requested for her to be left completely alone in her room. Of course, Martha objects to this, but she places guards outside her room regardless. The balcony of her room is the only way in besides the suite's main door."

"And before you start thinking this is an easy operation, it's not. They also have security in the gardens below. Any noise that comes from Aura's room will certainly be heard by the guards below. And anything that comes near the balcony can be seen from almost anywhere in the garden." Dove explains.

"So wings are out of the question. And magic would make too much noise. I guess we'll be doing this the old fashioned way." Ace speaks, throwing down her hand of five (5) cards.

The skin coloured earth pony pulls a crudely drawn map of what I'm assuming is the Gemstone Glass.

"Alright Strings, you'll get us into the event itself. I'm in charge of our mode of transport, I'm sure a limousine won't be too over the top. Dove, you'll smuggle our weapons in through the hotel area of the restaurant. I want everypony with a gun hidden on their body somewhere before the extraction. Again I'm in charge of our transport extraction. Coronis, you're with Thorns. Thorns, you deal with the guards in front of Aura's room. Seduce and Slay Protocol is authorized."

Ace finishes giving each member their roles. Except for...

"What about Blizzard?" I ask.

"I've given him his own assignment. You need not worry about him." Ace replies.

I suppose it won't hurt to play along in this operation. I'll be able to look for Misaki and Shrubbery afterwards anyways, so it's a win-win situation.

The six (6) of us trot out of the dark room and out of the house itself. Black Blizzard activates his Changeling Armour and retains his former diamond dog form, then separates himself from the group and disappears. Now it's just the five (5) of us. Approaching the gate, we finally reach a fenced off area that is filled with motorbikes and dune buggies.

"We'll take this one into Caduceus, then find a more sophisticated vehicle later." Ace says, leading the group into the large dune buggy.

The machine has two (2) seats in the front, one for passenger and the other for driver. Behind the seats is an area for carrying heavy cargo, but I assume we'll be sitting there with the other two (2) mares. Ace and Strings sit up front, while Dove and I sit in the back. But Thorns decides to seat herself on top of the buggy, where the safety rails are located.

The machine begins to roar, and smoke rises from the exhaust pipe behind us. We speed out of the fenced area, and towards the gates of Asclepius. The guards from before are still standing guard, and they see us approaching quickly. They pull the gates open, and we zoom out into the desert.

The breeze blowing through my mane is the last form of comfort I'll feel for a while. Seeing as we're on our way to kidnap a sickly mare from a high security restaurant hotel.

Then I'll look for Misaki and that timberwolf... Hopefully they made it to Caduceus.