The Secrets of Caduceus

The dune buggy bumps and shakes as we zoom through the empty desert towards a towering sand hills in the distance. The four (4) mares sitting in the buggy remain silent.

After riding for about half an hour, we finally reach the base of the sand dune. Ace switch's off the ignition, and the buggy's motor stops making noise. Everypony, including myself, hops off the buggy. The rest of my party begins to trot up the mountain of sand.

"Come on kid, Caduceus is just behind this hill." Ace encourages me to take the hike up.

I start, and soon become fatigued halfway up. How do these mares stay in shape, while I'm being left in the dust on this steep dune.

Finally, after another ten (10) minutes of climbing, we reach the top. And I immediately collapse the moment I reach the peak of the dune.

Say, this feels like earlier when Black Blizzard first approached me. I had been tracking Misaki May and Shrubbery the Timberwolf, and then almost passed out from the heat.

"There it is, the city of hope."

Upon hearing this, my head shoots up from the sand.

In the distance, about half a mile away, a magnificent white metropolis towers high. Perfectly round ivory skyscrapers reach into the clouds. It's so beautiful that I am unable to convey it into words.

"That's... Caduceus?" I ask.

Ace nods, and then begins to descend the sand hill. The others follow, and I do as well.

After we reach the base, I come to a conclusion, "Are we seriously going to walk all the way there?"

Ace replies, "Of course not. We'll take the train."

Train?

Dove flies forward, about a kilometre ahead. She lands near a cactus, and pulls back one of the larger glochids. At first, nothing happens, but then the ground begins to shake, and then the sand in front of us begins to cave in. Almost as if a trapdoor had fallen into the earth and the grains of sand on top of it chose to follow.

Another crazy sight, just what is this place? Before I know it, there is a large square that leads into darkness before me.

The four mares descend into the darkness. And once again, I follow.

"What is this place?" My curiosity makes me ask automatically.

This time, Strings answers, "This is our way of getting into Caduceus, the underground Laser Train. Designed and built by a friend of ours who happens to be a scientist."

Suddenly, the lights switch on. And I find myself standing on a boarding platform with a single white train in front of me. It looks almost like the buildings of Caduceus, in the way that they're smoothed to perfection with an ivory coat of colour.

Everypony, including myself, trots into the train. The inside is so complex that you would never have guessed that all this technology could have been hiding inside. Monitors and boxes with dials and switches completely cover the walls. Of course, I've never seen anything like this before in my life. Near the back of the train is a wall with guns of all kinds hanging from it. Each gun is painted or designed artistically, I'm guessing that's to label which gun belongs to each pony. Then I remember the revolver that Black Blizzard gave me. I've had it strapped to my back all this time and I've completely forgotten about it.

I take it from the holster on the saddlebag Blizzard gave to me earlier before I left.

It was then that I noticed the green pegasus floating above my head, leaning closer to the gun with a curious look on her face.

"A Colt Single Action Army. Shoots six (6) bullets, enough to kill anything that moves. It looks a little bland though. You wanna add a little 'Umph' to it?" She gives me a complete description of the gun, and then asks if I want to decorate it? What an odd pony.

"Um, I suppose it wouldn't hurt..." I reply confused.

Dove flies over to one of the strange machines near the gun rack, "It won't take any time at all, the pony who designed this train also designed everything in it. This is a three-dee model firearm designer, you put the gun in this compartment and then slap whatever design you want on it through the computer." She explains it like it's some sort of toy to be used by a teenager on their clothes.

I place the revolver in the compartment, and then close the small hatch in front of it. The screen beside it lights up, and I see a picture of my gun on it.

"It's a touch screen, so just use this pen to draw whatever you want on the monitor. After your done that, just drag it wherever you want to put it on the gun. Or you can just draw over the gun itself, that works too." The pegasus explains.

I look around before I do anything. Ace leans on Strings' shoulder with a cigarette in her mouth. It looks as if Strings is currently attempting to start the train. And I'm not sure if Thorns is taking a nap, meditating, or simply standing bored in the dark corner of the train.

With the thought of being embarrassed in front of the others eradicated, I take the pen in my mouth and begin to draw over the revolver on the screen.

After a few minutes, I finish and drop the pen.

Dove suddenly appears over my shoulder again, "Done? Huh, that's a weird design. But to each their own I guess. Now just push this..."

*CLICK*

The monitor shuts off, and the machine begins to make noises similar to that of a can of spray paint.

A green light flashes, and the door to the compartment opens. A small bit of smoke rises from the box, but it clears in less than a minute. I pull the gun out from the box. I'm not sure whether or not to be embarrassed or proud of my work. But the design certainly looks better than it did on the monitor.

Thorns turns to me, and trots over to inspect my gun. But rather than taking a close look at it, she simply walks past while glaring at it silently. Is it really that bad? Maybe it's just how Thorns is.

Ace and Strings trot over as well, why does everypony want to see my gun?

"Simple and plain. Interesting though..." Ace says, before returning to the driver's seat of the train.

Strings stares at the gun and then at me, "I think it's great. It's unique and your own."

It was then that I noticed Strings' eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Beautiful, yet so empty. It's strange... I feel like I'm falling endlessly when I look at them.

All of a sudden, she jumps back in a panicked manner. She stutters something, but I can't hear exactly what she said.

I turn to Dove to ask what the problem was, but she has already retreated to the gun rack to check on the weapons.

"It's all ready to go. Hold on tight everypony!" Ace shouts, as she pulls a lever on the dashboard down.

The train makes a hissing sound, and then begins to move away from the platform. Soon, the light from the boarding platform shuts off, and the only illumination is from the lights within the train.

Finally, I'll be able to see the inside of the city of hope: Caduceus.

Hopefully I won't have to use this revolver. I stare at my weapon. The beautifully drawn grey winged snake slithers from the handle of the gun to the tip of the barrel.