I was laying in a bed looking up at the wolf. He had carried me over to the bed and placed me gently on the sheets. Granted, he had placed me upside down on the mattress. “So who are you? What do you all represent? Just what do you do?”
He looked as if he was deep in thought. “If you’d like to know the name of my organization then you’re in luck. That, I can tell you. We’re the Blackscale. We hail from Aurora.”
The what from where? “I haven’t heard of you. Or Aurora.”
He smirked. “Good. We’ve done quite a lot to make sure of that.”
“I take it that you have a good reason for the introversion?”
He chuckled. “I do believe we do. Though we aren’t so much introverting as we are secretive.” He licked his lips. “It also isn’t surprising you are oblivious to Aurora. Few are aware of its existence.”
“Could you possibly enlighten me?” I smiled. I smiled for the first time since I got here. Something about him was likable. It could have been his amicable personality but it felt like something a bit deeper than that. There was just a certain charisma about this wolf.
“Nothing would please me more, my dear! One moment.” He turned to the door and bellowed, “Aeria?”
“Yes?” The response came muffled through the door.
“Could you bring me the map?”
“Which one?”
“The world map?”
“Do you mean the map of the known world or the world world?”
“The known world will do just fine. Just please bring it to me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m searching for Star.”
“Are you playing hide and seek?”
“...”
“Can I join in?” There was silence after Sicarius spoke.
“Just tell the filly the story without the map. She’s bound to know basic geography.”
“Why? The map is really helpful and adds some good drama.”
“Just tell the story.”
“Fine.” He huffed. “It’s on you if its not dramatic enough, though!”
“Duly noted.” Her voice was dry.
He mumbled to himself, “If she didn’t want to play hide and seek she should have just said so.” He turned to me, instantly losing his annoyed expression. “So, what do you know of Vaporia, Trixie?” Just by his expression I could tell that he expected a coherent answer. One that I didn’t pull out of a hat.
“Vaporia?” It sounded familiar but I was not quite sure where I had heard the word. I searched the recesses of my mind for some type of knowledge, but came up with naught. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.”
His eyebrows formed a large arch and he wore a deep frown. “Really? Your orphanage didn’t stock a lot of books, did it? Anyways, Vaporia is a myth.”
“A myth?” What would something that didn’t even exist have to do with anything?
“Yes, a myth. According to the myth, there is a massive smog that moves over Antlertic Ocean. It travels over the ocean like a large gaseous cloud, billowing out a fog thicker than any other. And in its wake disaster is said to strike. Hurricanes, whirlpools, quakes, magnetic pulses, tropical storms, arctic storms, smokescreens, classic songs performed poorly, and a number of other tragedies are left in its wake. That’s according to sailors who have claimed to sail through it safely.”
A myth? That certainly did not apply to me. At least, it did not seem likely that it did. “How does this fantasy relate to this Aurora place?” What exactly was he playing at?
He grinned again. “Well, This ‘fantasy’ is quite real. I can assure you of that.” Even his eyes were smirking.
“Something like that can’t possibly be real, though...can it?” Of course, the most insane tale I had heard was the story of the fringe. And it was most certainly real. The fringe was on the western most corner of the map, sitting on the rift. Over it floated it the chain islands of Heliopolis, Continua, Elsweyr, Integrity, and Eden.
The tall-maned wolf looked me straight in the eye. His eyes weren’t particularly revealing, but that did not make them any less intimidating. “I could tell you that there is more to this firmament than any philosophy could fathom, but the Trixie that could be is well aware of that.”
I smiled again. “I’d love to meet her someday. She sounds like a character.” I received another toothy grin in return.
“She is closer than you think.” There was a spark in his eyes that almost made me believe him. “As I said, Vaporia is real, Miss Trixie. But Vaporia is not merely a destructive force of nature only recorded in the exaggerated tales of whimsical travelers. It is also an organized system.”
It was a system? Well that narrowed down the possibilities as to what it could be- if it existed. If it was a system then it served a purpose. It was a destructive force according to the description, yet it remained hovering over the Antlertic in constant motion.
Unless its soul purpose was to destroy it sounded like it was in constantly fleeing. That sounded more like a defensive system than an offensive one. Add to the fact that the smog was probably meant to cover or hide something. “So what is it guarding?”
He looked genuinely surprised. “Nice deductive reasoning.” He smiled again. “Aurora. Vaporia defended Aurora. You see, Aurora was, and maybe still is, a city. It was a metal depot that was surrounded by a thick fog of natural disasters meant to protect it from the outside world. Our world.”
“I still don’t see how this relates to us in any way.”
He looked on at me. “No. You probably wouldn’t. But, you might.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Those two statements seem to contradict each other.”
He bit his lower lip and stared at something distant. He put a paw to his chin and stroked it with one of the free pads. A gentle humming noise came from his throat. “So many things do, yet we mortals hardly notice. Is that a flaw in our very nature, or is it something much deeper?” He spoke in a rather histrionic voice that exaggerated the term, experienced. He took a unnecessarily deep breath and continued. “Perhaps it is the way of-”
“Please, stop.” A voice broke the air, surprising me. It was a cool voice that spoke, one with a strange placidity about it. I recognized it almost instantly. In the doorway stood Star, leaning casually against the stone. He was smiling. It was that cool, unnerving smile. “Just stop.”
The wolf, rather than become annoyed just looked to Star with a worried expression. “Did I overdo it?”
Star smiled at him and strolled towards us. Even when he moved normally, his gait was graceful and his hoofsteps were silent. “Yes, yes you did. But that is quite alright. You’ve never really had the attention span to tell this tale.” The wolf nodded in agreement with his words.
“Why do you think that is, Star?” The wolf ignored the insult itself, apparently taking it as constructive criticism.
Star paused for a moment. He looked at the wolf with a sympathetic gaze that almost looked genuine. “My dear, dear friend. Listen to me.” For a moment I actually believed he was going to say something comforting. “I, nor anyone else in this place, have the capacity to fathom a reason as to why you behave like a toddler searching for a popsicle.” He smiled again, a genuine smile.
For a moment the wolf was silent. Then he opened his maw slowly and asked, “Where are the popsicles by the way...?”
Star sighed. “Perhaps I should finish up with our new recruit.”
“That would probably be best.” The wolf turned on the spot, letting his thick tail brush along the stone flooring. He began to walk towards the portal of the room.
Before he left I had a question to ask him. An important one, considering I would likely be in his base for some time. “Wait. Before you go can you tell me one last thing?”
He turned and looked at me expectantly.
I coughed once. “What’s your name?”
Star looked at the wolf in disbelief. “You didn’t even tell her your name?”
The wolf pursed his lips and said, “I suppose it slipped my mind. But, ‘it’ is a something I can easily fix. My name is Wolf.” He looked proud, as if saying his name was an accomplishment.
I didn’t even make an attempt to hide my disbelief. Who named their child after their own race? What could possibly possess such an uncreative mind? Wolf must have noticed my expression because he spoke again. “My parents were rainbow addicts.”
Again, what? I was familiar with drugs. I had been offered them enough times in the past to know the different kinds. I had never heard of a drug that went by the name rainbow. “There isn’t any such drug on the market?” I phrased the blanket-statement like a question, hoping to receive some type of elaboration.
Wolf looked at me in disgust. “Drugs? Who said anything about drugs? My parents just got so caught up in staring at rainbows and reading with them, that they neglected every other aspect of their life, including me. See, Star. I hate telling others my name, it always makes my parents sound insane.”
Star looked to me. “You can just call him Sicarius. All of us do here.”
“Why?”
Star smiled as Sicarius rolled his eyes. “It’s a descriptive word from the texts of Vaporia. It is a rank here in our little guild that signifies a significant achievement. One that only Sicarius here as accomplished.”
Now I was curious. “What achievement, exactly?”
Sicarius coughed. “Star will tell you after he finishes the tale of the Blackscale.” He made a cooing noise. “I made a rhyme. How cute. Bye then.” And with that he disappeared through the doorway. Star watched him leave with very little interest.
Only after he disappeared completely did the shade even bother to speak. “Aurora was run by a government that wanted to seclude itself from the unknown world.” Oh, so we were just going to jump right in. “They feared anything foreign so they created their city to be a fortress. We don’t know the exact specifications of the city’s structure, besides the defensive systems it uses in the form of Vaporia. We have no physical evidence of Aurora.”
If he had no evidence how was he able to be sure that it existed? “How do you know it exists? Without evidence it seems rather fanciful.” What was the point of relating a myth to me without evidence to support it?
His gaze bore that tranquil look that worked to calm every nerve in my form. “We have an eyewitness account.”
They couldn’t have. If this mythical place had been a flying fortress with such an advanced defense system then how could any one being have possibly have seen it? It just wasn’t possible. “How do you know you can even trust that account? If no creature has been able to enter Vaporia and pierce through Aurora then it is a safe bet to assume no creature would be able to recount a story that involved that task.”
He laughed. That irritated me for some reason. “While nothing has ever entered Aurora, there is one thing that has exited.”
Still curious I asked, “And what was that one thing?” I suppose things are weaker from the inside. I was interested in the story now. Mainly so I could disprove the ridiculous myth.
“Avalerion Blackscale. A resident of Aurora who grew sick of staying trapped in one place for a lifetime. And, as I am sure you have guessed, the founder of our little family.” He sighed.
“Still, how can you be sure that’s tru-” I stopped myself. Was I seriously about to ask a question like that?
His eyes snapped up to me. His smile faded. I had just questioned the honesty of the founder of his organization. Great, I had made him angry. Damnable mouth. He did not berate me, surprisingly. “You even question something that should be trusted. That’s good.” His smile returned. “We know her account was true due to her unique biology.”
“What do you mean? How exactly would anatomy have any effect on truth.” And now I was curious again.
“Avalerion Blackscale was not of an equine nature.” He put out bluntly.
That was hardly uncommon, considering the number of species inhabiting the world. I had even seen a number of other species here. “What was she then? A gryphon? A dragon? A drake? A dog?” Her species would not really matter in relation to a mystifying city that definitely probably didn’t exist.
“None of those. She wasn’t anything.” His glowing amber eyes showed nothing.
“I don’t understand. She obviously was something. So what was she?” This was becoming confusing.
“Her species wasn’t documented. There were no appearances of an organism anything like her.”
“But what was she? And why wasn’t she a known species?” I may have sounded a bit demanding. Any fear I previously had of Star was replaced by curiosity. I was young, after all.
“She was a species that happened to be unique to Aurora. A species that is likely still hidden away there today. They are known as Zhenniao.” I expected him to burst out laughing at any moment, telling me this was a joke.
“Zhen- what?” I had never heard of anything like that before. Though I suppose that had been the point.
“Zhenniao. A species completely unique to Vaporia. A species so rare that we don’t even have mythology regarding them. It’s fascinating.” He had the look of an intrigued scholar, head tilted left, eyes distant and searching, eyebrows furrowed into a crease.
“What were they?” I asked suspiciously. I wasn’t ready to believe anything based on words alone. Words lied. Often.
“Rather than tell you I’ll show you.” An ominous darkness formed around his horn and his amber eyes glowed faintly as he cast a spell. Instantly a scroll emerged from the empty air. “This is a drawn anatomy. An artifact that Avalerion Blackscale brought from her home.” He levitated the scroll in front of me, unfurling it as it moved.
What I saw was bizarre, to say the least. A demure bird-type creature laid in front of my eyes. It was larger than an eagle, but still rather small. It was not a chimera like the griffin or harpy. It was purely a bird. Its beak appeared coppery, with grooved indentations giving the impression of holes in metal.
The head was feathered with black tufts of plume that slicked down the length of the skull like leathery skin. Following the chest and the wingspan, the black transformed into a softer grey tone. Things this darkly colored were not normally seen in Equestria. The quills were marked as being soft and moldable along the entire body for the purpose of sound muffling, camouflage, moisture control, feeling, hearing, even diving.
The talons were curved sharply inwards, almost coming to stand at a crescent. According to a small line of text on the page it was to aid agility on the ground. The talons were, strangely, darkly colored. They were a faint black that matched the head. Three rings aligned the stalk of the left talon, and two aligned the right.
The eyes were complex, according to a rather large block of text. It exploded one area of the eye to show three marks lined up with the iris. Supposedly each mark served a different machine-like function. The one nearest to the iris allowed for sensitive vision that quickly relayed signals from the nerves to the brain in order to improve reaction time. The middle mark was meant to allow for better vision in darkened areas.
The final marking had the most peculiar affect on the eye. If the chart was truthful then it changed the color of the iris itself. Something that couldn’t possibly be right. That was a natural process based on the amount of pigment in the eye. It couldn’t just change colors. Even an uneducated orphan such as myself would be aware of that.
None of that even compared to the entry contained on the middle of the page. A bubble was blown up on the inner edges of the wings to show the feathers there. They were thick and coarse when compared to the rest. That was not the strangest part of the quills, however. They had two ends. But even that was not the most outrageous claim made by the scroll. The feathers apparently acted as a container and carrier for a deadly neurotoxin.
It was definitely not a species native to Equestria, or any other nation for that matter. “That’s not possible.”
“Yet here is the proof.”
I was still finding it difficult to believe. “It can’t be real, though. It’s not real.” Of course, I was wrong. Otherwise my tale would be extremely boring. “What other proof do you have?”
He smiled. “Always with the questions. It’s good, but try to open your mind to the impossible. The world is much bigger that way.” His tranquil smile and advice did not quell my interest. “We also have documents and letters from those who interacted with her. As well as technology she brought from Vaporia with her.” He paused for a moment. “And lastly, we have her body.”
Now that caught my attention. “Wait. You have a body? That’s...Why didn’t you just show me that?”
He was still smiling. “Your right. Here, why don’t I just pull the ancient, dusty bones of Miss Blackscale out of my pocket and show it to the young filly. I should’ve thought of that, my bad.”
My ears pressed down against my head. That had been a rather dumb comment. “Sorry.”
“Quite alright. Anyways, Avalerion Blackscale formed a guild that was based off of her talents. She made it in order to find shelter and friends in an unfamiliar world, as well as put her talents to use.”
“And what were her talents?” According to the description of her race it seemed like she would’ve made an excellent thief. Perhaps that what this place was. A guild of organized thieves...yeah, right. That would just be ridiculous.
Star smirked a proud little grin. “Have you noticed anything about me? Specifically how I move and my appearance.”
I had noticed him. His coat was black like the night sky and his eyes were piercing amber. His magical aura also appeared black and empty, wielding itself silently. His steps were extremely quiet. Unnaturally so, in fact. “You appear to have all the qualities needed to be a good sneak.”
His proud little grin transformed into a small, cryptic frown. “I deal with a different degree of stealth than the thieves and beggars you knew. I’m trained, and more importantly my abilities serve a purpose. But yes, you are correct. I’m exceptionally stealthy. Avalerion Blackscale was as well. But you probably guessed that from her biology.”
“Being an entirely different species than everything else was limiting in our semi-modern culture. She couldn’t work in establishments, obviously, so she resorted to other means of obtaining basic resources.” He paused for breath.
“Let me guess. She robbed ponies.” It was obvious she had no other option. In the end no one did.
“No. Four-hundred and thirty years ago there was series of murders in the continent of Ursland. Civilians were slaughtered in their homes, and robbed of every possession.” He licked his lips and coughed once. There was no need to say who committed the crimes. “Murder is an incomprehensible act in most societies today. It is not just abnormal and abhorrent, it is unheard of. Benevolent rulers like Celestia have made sure of that.” There was a hint of something foreign in his tone. Was it disdain?
“These murders were all linked by one single thing: a needle-like projectile that delivered a toxin into the bloodstream of the victims. Approximately a year after they began the killings stopped. They never found who was committing the crimes, and it was assumed that the perpetrator either passed on or was imprisoned. Still, the concept of murder had been introduced in the once peaceful continent of Ursland.”
“I thought Ursland was torn by civil infighting and pointless wars.” I didn’t know it had ever been peaceful.
He laughed. A genuine laugh. “Peace was before the inhabitants got a taste for blood. A few years went by after the murders without a trace of our founder. She, for all intents and purposes, disappeared. That is, until she appeared in Neig(h)geria.”
“It was around the time of her appearance that a new type of crime ‘happened’ to become prevalent.” Before I could ask what it was, he answered. “Scams and identity theft. Everywhere, the fair citizens of that land found themselves donating money to false charities and making strange purchases that they had never actually made, themselves. While it didn’t send shockwaves through the world like the Ursland murders did, it did corrupt the Neig(h)geria populous.”
“After that, Avalerion Blackscale made her way to the Scorched Lands. Not to go into too much detail, but the populous there became very familiar with the idea of false prosecution, political assassinations, and planting evidence.” I couldn’t possibly imagine why.
“Then, our fair predator made her way to Equestria. She found herself stuck in the Badlands and the northern area of Saddle Arabia as Equestria had a very strict border patrol back then. She stayed with a group of changelings while stuck and helped to familiarize them with the ideas of kidnapping and manipulation.” I chose not to ask what changelings were, just then.
“At the time changelings remained secluded from other nations, scavenging scraps of emotion from the mating creatures of the Badlands. She thought it was pathetic. A species with so much potential wasting away. She believed that if they possessed the means to gain the item they desired, then they should not have even hesitated in acting upon those desires.” There it was again. That tiny tinge of scorn in his vocal pattern. Directed at the changelings. Whatever they were.
“So, she somehow managed to convince one tiny tribe of changelings to leave the Badlands to try and feed off of the love of ponies in Saddle Arabia. They infiltrated a large city, mixing in well with the populace.” He smirked. “Other tribes and even entire hives saw how successful they were and the idea caught on.”
“Our mistress had contacts then. Having friends with the ability to shift forms would be useful. Instead of causing havoc in Saddle Arabia she persuaded them to sneak her into Equestria. It-”
“Why would she care about Equestria?” Why did she just drift from place to place? It sounded as if she was like me, a survivor without a purpose.
He didn’t look bothered by the interruption, thankfully. “Curiosity. She was out to see the world. And spread her philosophy.”
“Two questions. Why, and what?” Those sounded like completely pointless goals. This organization had been trying to draw me in by offering purpose, yet their founder sounded without one. Seemed a bit questionable.
“Aurora was a different type of society than the one you know. The Zhenniao were an extremely advanced society possessing extremely advanced technology. They were, however, not perfect. Things we can’t even imagine, such as murder, torture, sacrilege...existed. The citizens there were familiar with incredibly horrendous acts.”
“Why wouldn’t they be on a higher plane than us? I thought they were more advanced.” I was well aware he had not answered my original question.
“Our dear founder had a belief.” Was he ignoring me in purpose? “She believed that the reason Aurora was so far ahead of the grounded nations was because of its corruption.” What? “If you’re able to imagine a truly horrendous crime, something that is has succeeded in abolishing all levels of morality, then you can advance yourself.”
Star paused again. He licked his lips and breathed in deeply. “Miss Blackscale sabotaged the countries of the world, killing, stealing, and other such things, trying to advance their culture?” That was simply the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.
“Why did she care?” If she was, in fact, trying to help those nations, then what motivated her?
“She hated Aurora, Vaporia, and Zhenniao. She thought they were wasted upon this world. They were an old world construction that didn’t even have the courage to descend from their platform of solitude. While that cloud existed nothing else could. She was determined to construct a world that would be able to find those lands.” He spoke with a passion I had not yet heard in his voice.
“She hoped that if every nation were to become comfortable with the unspeakable, then the dormant brilliance within each of them would present itself. Brilliance that would otherwise black inspiration. She hoped they would create the technology to discover Vaporia. Discover it, and force it out of its little hovel. Discover it, and tear it apart, piece by piece. And maybe after that, peace would be achievable.”
Now I was extremely confused. “Peace? But it sounded as if she was trying to corrupt the entire world. It sounds like she just wanted revenge.”
“Quite the opposite, in fact. The peace that nations like Equestria have is false. It masquerades as love and tolerance, without having ever really experienced true strife. It’s obligated. Our founder realized this.”
He paused. “When you recover from disease, you become stronger. Your body builds ways to combat that disease in the future. However, the disease first has to exist. And then be diagnosed. So she decided to create a disease and a diagnosis.”
“She wanted to make the world stronger? By hurting it?” That sounded insane. Yet, surprisingly, I could see the value in the goal.
“That’s correct. And that is what led her to create our organization upon reaching Equestria. She realized that her goal would require centuries of work. So she left a legacy. She gathered friends she had made on her travels, persuaded them to join her cause, and that’s how our family came to be.” there was still one question left, though.
“Fine. So an anonymous po- species appeared from a mythical city full of technology, drifted through our world while causing untold amounts of havoc, came up with an insane philosophy that she wanted to live by, and created your organization. I guess with a little time I can start to believe that. That just leaves me one question to ask, though.” My stare was rock solid. This was the question I’d had on my mind since I got here. I had an educated guess, but the question still needed to be asked.
“What do you do?”
Star looked at me. He remained silent before breaking out into a cocky grin. “What don’t we do? We deal in the shadowy arts of espionage, thievery, ‘special’ depositions, torture, planting stuff, murder, kidnapping, spread of dissent, political maneuvering, and much more.”
“We’re the carriers of Avalerion Blackscale’s legacy. We’re the shadows that move so brilliantly through the night, noiseless but leaving a distinct mark upon everything we touch. We’re the healers, slowly cleansing the world by a deluge of its own blood. We’re partially insane, incredibly dangerous, and your family now.” He paused. “Think you can handle that?”
I didn’t even need to think about it. “Yeah.” I shrugged. “I can deal with immorality.”
He looked at me solemnly. His amber eyes looked to be appraising me once again. “We have morals. Just a different set. A set you’ll be learning soon enough.” He intook one sharp breath, causing his mane to bounce and fall to the side in a ragged mess. His smile returned with that incredible tranquilizing effect. “Now rest. We have quite a lot to do, and only a few years to do it.” He turned about and began to stalk out. “I hope you like this room, because it yours now.”
My own room. I guess change does exist.