City of Guilds
City of Guilds
Chapter One: The City of Guilds
Princess Celestia paced around the cobblestone war room, the soft glimmer of the morning sunlight feeding in through cracks in the walls. The room was filled with ponies, all anxiously awaiting the spell the princess had planned. Celestia looked around at the, as of the last year or so, very familiar faces. A year ago, many of these ponies had come to her to inform her that members of their friends or family had gone missing. A series of strange teleport storms had apparently whisked several ponies away to another plane. What made this a far more immediate issue was the fact that several of the ponies that were teleported away, were the Elements of Harmony. Along with all six elements, Shining Armor, and Scootaloo were known to be missing. She stood with her sister Luna and her niece Cadence as they addressed the crowd.
“All right, here’s how this should work,” Princess Celestia said loud and clear. “The three of us,” Celestia motioned to the two alicorns at her sides, “will send our magic out into the Aether, and hopefully we’ll be pulled to the plane where the eight missing ponies are located.” The three slowly nodded to each other and began the spell. Their magic swirled from their horns and twisted together amidst a collection of objects in the middle of the room that would, hopefully, lead the magic to the ponies that they were looking for. The magic began to ebb and flow and became a large hole in the middle of the room, and the three alicorns became engulfed in its light, traveling across worlds to find their lost subjects.
Princess Cadence was blinking the sun out of her eyes when she realized something. “We did it.” Cadence looked all around her, unable to turn her head without laying eyes on something that she had never seen before. All around the three alicorns were buildings that seemed to pierce the sky. Creatures of various shapes, sizes, and colors walked the paved streets, seemingly uninterested in the sudden appearance of three alicorns.
Celestia tilted her head towards the sky, the bright light of the sun momentarily blinding her, before a thin layer of smog covered the the bright globe. "Well, is everypony alright?"
"We are fine, yes," Luna responded. "Though the world we have found ourselves in seems... odd."
"It's amazing!" Cadence squealed. "So many interesting sights to see, so many new pon-I mean... things to meet! Oh, I just can't wait to meet some of the people of this new place in person!" Cadence started to approach a few human passersby when a loud voice rang out.
“Halt, in the name of the Boros guild.”
Coming from the direction of the voice was a trio of humans in gleaming armor with the symbol of a fist radiating light on them. In the middle of the group of humans, however, there was a unicorn, coated in gleaming white armor with the same symbol of the fist done in gold. The unicorn was also white as snow and his mane featured various shades of blue.
Cadence's eyes lit up as she asked, “Shining Armor?”
“Cadence?” Shining Armor rushed forward and hugged his wife, sending a look back to the humans who backed off. "It really is you. How are you? How's Equestria? How did you find us? Did you find 'us' or just me?"
Cadence planted a kiss on Shining to silence him. "We can answer all of those questions later. For now though why are you dressed like that? And why did they yell 'halt,' are we in trouble?"
“Sorry, you guys just appeared out of nowhere so the Boros were called in," Shining responded. "I just so happened to be in the direct area.”
“What are these Boros that thou speaks of?” Princess Luna inquired.
“The Boros are one of the guilds… Oh right, you’re new here.” Shining put a hoof to his chin in thought. “I’ve got it, I’ll take you three to the Transguild Promenade, it’ll be easy to explain there.” He motioned for the three alicorns to follow him, “But first I’d like to welcome you three to the wonderful world of Ravnica!”
Shining led Celestia, Luna, and Cadence to the Transguild Promenade, a large park that contained ten arches that represented the ten guilds of the world. Shining motioned for the three to sit down on a bench located under the symbol he wore on his armor. “The Boros Legion, the protectors and police of Ravnica.” He puffed his chest out proudly and motioned to the symbol on his armor. “This is the mark of the Boros guild, the golden armor shows that I’m a captain.”
“How very interesting, nephew,” Celestia said softly. “But we’re here looking for the other missing ponies as well, so that we can take you and them back to Equestria.”
Shining pondered for a few minutes. “Well, I know where a few of them are at least.” The three alicorns began giving Shining expectant looks. “Only a few, I don’t know how many of us were sent through the portal.”
“Start with the Elements of Harmony, okay sweetie,” Cadence said softly, giving her husband a loving look.
“Well...” Suddenly an explosion occurred off in the distance. the alicorns jumped to the ready as they saw an entire building collapse. Shining simply sighed, “Again?” The alicorns looked at him as if he suddenly sprouted an extra head. He pointed to another one of the symbols in the promenade, a symbol of a dragon, colored in blue and red, spreading his wings menacingly with what seemed to be a crown floating above him. “The symbol of the Izzet league, led by the dragon Niv-Mizzet. They’re the scientists of Ravnica.” His voice and face dropped. “It’s also where Twilight is.”
“Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, is a member of this Izzet League?” Celestia’s voice was beginning to lose its motherly tone, becoming darker and her words more deliberate.
“Yeah, she’s one of his head scientists.” Shining looked off towards the location of the recent explosion. “Stuff like that happens all the time when Izzet experiments go awry.” He looked to Celestia. “If you want to find the missing ponies, I’d start by checking out the guilds.” He motioned to another symbol on the promenade, this one looked as though it was a maze inside of a triangle. “The Azorius Senate, lawmakers of Ravnica.” He motioned to another symbol this one was the shape of a large tree, “The Selesnya Conclave, last time I heard Fluttershy was located in their main guildhall, the tree Vitu-Ghazi.” He motioned to another symbol, a circle containing the head of an insect, “The Golgari Swarm, mostly just insects and reanimated corpses but still you might want to check.”
“There is no way that one of sister’s subjects would lower themselves to such a place.” Luna was practically seething at the implication.
“I’m just saying that you might want to check out the guildhall," Shining Armor countered. "Meet with the guild’s leader Jarad, he’ll know if there are any equine in his guild.”
“Pony,” Cadence interjected. “You said equine, it’s pony.”
“Right, that’s just what the citizens of Ravnica call us.” Shining laughed softly and motioned to another guild symbol. This symbol was of a black pointed sun, “The Orzhov Syndicate, a bunch of mobsters, thieves and miscreants that masquerade as a religious organization.” Shining’s tone was coarse and venomous, even more so than when he was talking about the Golgari before. The next symbol down from the Orzhov was a symbol of a burning tree; Shining caught the three looking at the symbol. “The Gruul Clans, not much to say, really just a bunch of brutes.” The next symbol was one that looked like a tree bent in the shape of a wave of water. “The Simic Combine, you’ll find Rainbow Dash at the guildhall or in the skies above us, breaking as many laws about speed and public safety as she can.”
Luna pointed to one of the two remaining symbols. “What is that guild’s name?”
Shining looked at the symbol, a fractured burning skull; his face fell and his eyes narrowed. “The Cult of Rakdos. monsters, killers, psychopaths, they’re responsible for at least fifty percent of the murders on Ravnica.” His tone fell. “Go there at your own risk, just know that some creatures are beyond redemption.” Luna and Celestia shared a look.
“Sweetheart, what is that final symbol there?” Cadence was pointing to the last archway, the one with the spider whose body was a large eye. “An old legend, the House of Dimir, the lost guild, the tenth guild, the shadow guild.” Shining laughed. “They’re something of a bedtime story used to scare kids into being good.” Shining took on the voice of an old spinster. “If you don’t eat all your veggies then the Dimir will come to get you, whooooo,” he punctuated these last words by standing on his back hooves and waving his front ones up and down.
“Captain.”
Shining snapped back into a standing salute. “Yes, guildmaster Feather.” An angel hovered in the air above the group, her skin was a light tan, rather drab when compared to her flaming red hair. Much like Shining, she also wore armor that was decorated with the symbol of the Boros. She flew down next to the Shining and looked over the three alicorns.
“You should come with me Armor, there was a murder nearby.” Feather’s gaze was once again drawn to the three alicorns. “And the three of you are?”
Shining dropped the salute. “Oh, these are the rulers of Equestria, the plane that I’m from, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.” The alicorns bowed their heads to Feather who returned the gesture. “And she,” he added, throwing his forehoof around Cadence’s neck, “Is my wife, Cadence.” Cadence bowed to Feather as well, who returned the gesture with a smirk. The unicorn captain turned to face his aunts. "And this is the guild leader of the Boros, the angel Feather."
“A pleasure," Feather responded with a midair curtsy. "Well, they should probably come too,” the angel said curtly.
Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Why do you need us?”
Feather flapped her wings powerfully to ready herself for flight. “Well I figured you’d want to be there, considering it was one of your equines that was murdered.”
Shining Armor’s disbelief at the prospect of a pony being murdered was only dispelled when he got to the crime scene. At the edge of the Transguild Promenade there was a statue dedicated to the five fallen paruns. The statue featured Razia, the archangel who led the Boros guild before Feather. The statue bore a striking resemblance to the current guildmaster, since Razia had made all of the other angels in her image. The second part of the statue was actually a small group of people, the original Azorius court, who died nearly five hundred years prior, in a time that the citizens of Ravnica call the Dissension Crisis.
The next part of the statue was of an elf woman named Fonn, one of the champions of the Selesnya guild. She was pictured riding atop her wolven steed, with her weapon raised. Next to her was the image of another elf, though he was clothed in a long robe, with glasses resting upon his nose. His name was Momir Vig, the previous master of the Simic Combine, killed by his greatest work in the Dissension Crisis, but still memorialized for all of his followers.
But it was the fifth statue that, even though it was mere stone, managed to permeate an air of darkness. The fifth parun immortalized in the stone was the former leader of the Dimir, the vampire Szadec. Shining shivered as his gaze fell upon the vampire's statue, the stone eyes drilling a hole in his skull. It was beneath the imposing figure of Szadec that a dead pony, with orange fur and a purple mane, rested.
“Scootaloo, no.” Celestia’s voice cracked as she turned away from the body.
Shining had been part of many murder investigations during his time as a Boros mage and even more now that he was a captain, but seeing a child’s death wasn’t something that one easily gets over. Shining’s human assistants were already sketching the scene. “This was brutal.”
Scootaloo’s body was mangled, ripped and torn. Cuts and bruises dotted her forelegs and hind legs. Her limp corpse was lying on its belly and her mane and tail were messily lying limp. Shining used his hoof to prod at her hair. “Wet.” Cadence and the others looked at him, “Her hair, it’s still wet.”
Feather approached him. “Blood, sweat, or other.”
“Seems to be sweat, that and the bruising indicate struggle.”
One of the humans scoffed, “Gruul job cut and dry. She got into a fist-fight with something bigger than her.” The humans caught a dirty look from Captain Armor and went back to their work.
“You’ll want to look at this!” shouted one of Shining’s human assistants as he threw a pony-sized cape down at their feet. That cape happened to feature the symbol of the Gruul. “Found it on the other side of the statue, looks like it was the victim’s.”
“No.” Feather grabbed Scootaloo’s body and flipped it over, revealing more stab wounds on her lower body, but more importantly revealing a circular scar near the base of her neck. “She’s Scognor, dammit!”
Princess Luna spoke up. “Her name is Scootaloo.”
“Maybe where you’re from,” Feather shot back, “But around here she’s called Scognor, the adopted daughter of the Gruul guildleader, Borborygmos.”
“Rules out Gruul involvement,” Shining stated matter-of-factly. “No Gruul sect would be stupid enough to willingly piss off Borborygmos.” Shining ran through the facts in his head. The Gruul being involved was highly unlikely, Rakdos was the next likely suspect for a crime of this brutality, but the blood splatter seemed off. “Wait.” Shining scanned the area, noticing that there wasn’t any consistent blood splatter. “She’s been moved.”
“Rules out Rakdos as well then," Feather replied. "They don’t move bodies, so who does that leave, Armor?”
The humans both blanched as one of them managed to form words. “The Dimir.”
Feather’s wings flared at the mention of the guild of shadow. Shining, however, simply snorted and laughed. “You three have been reading those legends far too much.” His laughter died down before he spoke again. “They may have existed once, but they haven’t existed in years, hundreds of years. Szadec hasn’t been seen or heard from in that timeframe either, he’s still in Agyrem.” Princess Cadence looked at him quizzically. “A place of ghosts, where many of the dead of Ravnica reside.”
Feather calmed herself, she looked to Shining. “Alright, get this crime scene secured, and then bring the girl’s body back for analysis, and you three.” The three princesses stumbled back from Feather’s commanding tone. “I suggest that you find whoever else from your world came here, they may not be safe.” She flared her wings as she began to leave. “Call it a hunch.”
Shining immediately noticed the grim expression painted across his wife’s face. He slung his forearms around her in a hug. “It’s alright, it was probably just the Orzhov, maybe she owed money to them.” His aunts looked at him grimly, he responded to the question he knew was coming. “I’m staying until this investigation is over, I’ll ask Feather if I can have this case, I’ll find who murdered Scootaloo.” He released his wife from the hug, “For now you really should check the guilds to see if the others are with any of them. I’ll come back here later tonight at seven so we can meet up again.”
Celestia's face was crestfallen; to see a young filly brutalized in such a manner was horrible. The horrible scene only served to steel her resolve to get her little ponies back home. The sun alicorn had initially sensed eight ponies when they arrived on Ravnica. If Shining Armor and Scootaloo were two of them, then the others had to be the elements of harmony. “All right then, today I’ll investigate the Izzet for the missing elements. Luna investigate the Rakdos, and Cadence look into the Azorius.” The other two alicorns nodded to her. Shining gave the three directions and Celestia flew off to Nivix where her student supposedly lived and worked.
Twilight Sparkle was having a good day. Only two of her experiments blew up today, the amount of property damage she had caused this year had been reduced by nearly four thousand zinos (the currency of Ravnica) and Niv-Mizzet, the master of her guild, had asked to meet with her. As she passed other scientists, alchemists, and chemists of the Izzet league headquarters, she could feel jealousy radiating from all of them. The purple unicorn soaked in the jealousy of her fellow guild mages as she took the elevator to the top of the Nivix.
Twilight giggled incessantly all the way up the elevator to top of Nivix. She had met Niv-Mizzet twice prior, when she first arrived in Ravnica, and when she became a member of the Izmundi, his personal council. But neither time did she fully understand who she was dealing with. Niv-Mizzet was thousands of years old and one of the smartest creatures that she had ever met. When Twilight talked with Niv-Mizzet she was talking to something even smarter than her, she was a student again. Twilight enjoyed the days of study, and the new techno-magicks that she was exposed to on a daily basis reminded her of how much she loved to learn new things. As the elevator reached its destination at the top of the Nivix, Twilight stepped out only to be face to face with somepony that she thought she would never see again.
Princess Celestia ran up to her faithful student and embraced her, seemingly unaware of the pair of large dragon eyes looming down at the scene. Twilight broke from the hug and bowed to Niv-Mizzet. “Hello, Niv-Mizzet sir.” Niv-Mizzet was a towering dragon whose scales were colored blue and red. Celestia’s face visibly darkened as she heard her student refer to this dragon as ‘sir.’
“It’s alright, Sparkle," the dragon replied. "I am aware that Celestia is also your master.”
“Teacher," Celestia stressed. "I am Twilight Sparkle’s teacher.”
Niv-Mizzet simply scoffed, “Whatever word you choose, it means the same.”
Twilight nodded and hugged Celestia back. “It’s good to see you again, Princess.” Princess Celestia smiled, the warm memories of teaching Twilight magic flooded Celestia while she hugged back her faithful student.
Her expression soon turned serious. “Twilight, I’ve come to take you back to Equestria.” Her students face dropped and the dragon listened intently. “You have been trapped here far too long.”
“Is Equestria in peril?” Twilight said as her eyes grew the size of dinner plates.
Celestia giggled “No my faithful student, but your families miss you and I think you have been away from home for far too long.” She pulled her gaze away from her student and towards the dragon in the room. “I trust you will not have a problem with this?”
Niv-Mizzet erupted into laughter. “A student like Twilight Sparkle may only come along once a millennia, but I have plenty more of those to wait for another.”
“Well actually, Princess, I was wondering if I could stay a little longer, I have a few experiments that I want to complete, then I can bring them back to Equestria and just think of all the advancements I could make!”
Celestia’s expression hardened, “No," she shouted. "You must come back with me today!” Twilight winced as mentor slipped into the royal Canterlot voice.
Niv-Mizzet looked on in puzzlement. “Why are you trying to force my student to go back to your plane so quickly?”
Celestia shot a heated look at Niv-Mizzet. “It has been a year since she and her friends disappeared.”
“But surely now that you know that she’s safe, she could stay and finish her experiments?” the dragon argued.
“She isn’t safe,” Celestia curtly replied.
“What makes you say that?” Niv-Mizzet asked with mock-interest.
“There was a murder!” Celestia shouted
“Happens all the time,” the dragon snorted back.
“That’s what I’m afraid of," whispered Celestia.
“Your student managed to survive this far, has she not?” prodded the dragon.
“The murder was a pony like her!” Celestia shot back.
The room grew silent at Celestia’s words. Niv-Mizzet smiled lightly as he remarked, “There’s the truth.”
Twilight looked at her mentor with sunken eyes, “Who?”
“Scootaloo," the alicorn responded. "A young filly from Ponyville.”
Niv-Mizzet was visibly trying not to laugh. “Oh, I see, the adopted child of Borborygmos.” Twilight let out a breath of relief. While she was still sad about the death of Scootaloo, she was afraid that it was one of her closer friends.
“Perhaps it was the Orzhov,” Twilight suggested.
“Your brother is working on the case, he doesn’t believe that,” Celestia lied, her face turned from Twilight's.
Twilight ran through the various possibilities in her mind. The Gruul were unlikely, Shining didn’t believe that the Orzhov were involved, the Dimir were a myth. “Perhaps it was the Golgari.” Niv-Mizzet nodded his head in agreement. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Applejack was kidnapping people, I mean ponies, to resurrect with Jarad.”
“What?” Celestia’s royal Canterlot voice, which dwarfed even her sister’s, erupted through the room. “What do you mean Applejack, and this Jarad?”
“Well," Twilight squeaked, "Applejack joined the Golgari and has become a personal envoy to its leader, Jarad.”
“Please Twilight, consider going back to Equestria, in the meantime I will go and free Applejack from this Jarad.” With that Celestia flew out of the topmost chamber of Nivix, oblivious to the screams to stop and not go to the Golgari base from her student.
Princess Cadence had arrived at the central Azorius guildhall, New Prahv, for information on the missing Elements of Harmony. The Azorius guildhall was more extravagant than even the castle back at Canterlot. Large blue banners with golden trim hung from the marble ceiling. The banners and the ceiling held the symbol of the guild. Columns of polished stone rose up from the beautiful marble floors. People of various races wandered through the halls in long silvery robes, some carrying staffs with the symbol of the guild on top of them.
Cadence followed the throng of people into a large circular room filled with large chairs formed in a semi-circle around a huge stage with a podium on either side. On one side was a large blue creature and the other was a Goblin. In the middle section of the stage, cloaked in a long flowing golden robe and a headdress made to resemble a pair of golden birds, was Rarity.
“This court has decided that a payment of three hundred zinos to Amelia the Vedalken, from Gorky the Goblin, will be the settlement,” spoke Rarity.
Most of the courts erupted in cheers for the large blue creature on the left, with very few siding with the poor goblin Gorky on the right. The goblin was escorted out of the room by a pair of guards wielding sabers as Rarity stepped down from the center of the stage and began to walk after them. Cadence summoned up her magic and teleported down in front of Rarity, who was startled by the sudden appearance of the princess of love.
“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, you startled me, how did you find Ravnica, are the Princesses here with you as well, oh how is Sweetie Bell?” Rarity sputtered. Cadence put a hoof to Rarity’s mouth and embraced her. Rarity returned the embrace and began to settle down. “Terribly sorry, kind of high-strung today, that was my first solo judge duty; oh, do you think I did well, alright, superb, mediocre?” Rarity looked up with pleading eyes to Cadence.
“Sorry, I only caught the end of it.”
“Oh that’s alright," Rarity waved off. "It was only a seven minute court case.”
“Only seven minutes?" Cadence asked, shocked. "But he was charged so heavily.”
“The goblin is a member of the Izzet league, his experimentation with mortars that use liquid fire caused a substantial amount of damage to the markets and so the Vedalken Amelia was representing the markets.
“The Izzet," muttered Cadence. "Twilight hasn’t been here has she?”
Rarity stopped short and her eyes became pinpricks. “Twilight Sparkle, she is responsible for nearly 500,000 zinos worth of property damage in the year that she’s been here.” Rarity continued to seethe. “And worse of all she never denies it! She just says ‘sorry’ and pays it off and goes to cause more havoc, honestly the Izzet are more troublesome than the Rakdos.”
Cadence breathed in. “Rarity, I believe that you and the others need to go home tonight.” Rarity looked at her quizzically. “There has been a murder, Scootaloo. Shining is working on solving the case and wants the rest of you to go home.”
Rarity’s expression sunk but she smiled, “I’m afraid that I cannot leave yet then Princess.” Now Cadence looked at her quizzically, “I cannot leave knowing that one of my sisters friends was killed here, without first passing judgment on the one responsible.” Cadence smiled. “But you should go visit Fluttershy at the Vitu-Ghazi, the giant tree of the Selesnya, she would probably jump at the chance to go back home.”
Cadence nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell Shining Armor to expect help.” Cadence left the giant building and flew off towards the city tree of Vitu-Ghazi.
Princess Luna had been searching for almost two full hours for the location of the Rakdos home base. Eventually she found that there was a huge performance going on at a local Rakdos theater today and that one of the missing ponies would be there. The Princess wandered into a large theater with long red banners on the walls. The banners were coated in the symbol of the Rakdos and were colored like blood.
The curtain on the stage rose revealing a small red creature with black splotches with a small horn and spiked tail. “Hello Ravnica, it’s your favorite devilishly handsome host, Smoky.” The boos and hisses from the crowd told a different story than Smoky’s claim. “Alright fine, ahem, ladies and gentlemen I present to you the pony with a heart of blackened stone and a coat of glistening white, though soon it’ll be pretty red, Surprise!”
A white earth pony walked out on stage and from stage left a goblin on a stretcher was wheeled out. ‘How odd,' thought Luna. 'I was told that this was some sort of circus.’ The white pony was met with a hail of cheers from the crowd. Luna ran over to the devil Smoky as soon as he got off stage. “Excuse me, Sir Smoky, I am looking for a meeting with that Pony.”
Smoky scoffed, “You and every other nutter on Ravnica, she ‘inspired’ you as well.”
Luna was taken aback. “This circus inspires people, how interesting, we should have come earlier to see the other acts.”
Smoky stared in disbelief. “You don’t know what we do here, yet you know Surprise?”
Luna nodded. “Yes we are her princess of the night, from Equestria, the land from which she hails.”
Smoky’s red and black face turned positively white. “You come from Equestria?”
“Yes,” replied Luna.
Smoky gulped. “Well, just know that what’s about to happen is all legal, and you really shouldn’t interrupt the show.”
Luna was taken aback. “We wouldn’t dream of such a thing.”
“You will,” Smoky muttered under his breath.
Luna didn’t hear him, however, and turned her utmost attention to the mare onstage. The crowd shouted and cheered as a cart full of various cutting materials was brought out and placed in front of her. “This goblin,” the mare said in a high-pitched squeal, “is a member of the Izzet league. he works as an electromancer so he should be used to being ‘shocked’.” The mare giggled as she pulled several high voltage wires from the cart placing them in the goblin’s hands. She turned to a lever on the cart, and much to Luna’s horror she pulled the lever.
Electricity sparked from the machine as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through the goblin in the chair as its screams filled the theater and the audience clapped. “You know it’s ‘surprising’ how high that voltage goes.” The audience laughed and hollered at the joke as the goblin lay there twitching with blackened hands, a goofy smile adorned his face. “This goblin is a lot more cooperative than most of ones I get so I guess I’ll give him a ‘cut’ of the profits.” The audience laughed more as Surprise took a large knife, nearly half a foot long, in her hoof and stood over the goblin. “Everyone in the audience give him a hand, he’s gonna need one.”
Luna looked away as the mare brought the knife down and chopped off the goblin’s hand to the uproarious laughter of the audience present. Smoky tried to sidle away from the moon princess, but had no such luck. “What is her name?”
Smoky gulped, and responded, “Surprise.”
“Tis a stage name," growled Luna. "Give us her real name.”
Smoky looked back to the stage where Surprise was continuing her act. On the one hand his loyalty was to Surprise and to the Rakdos guild. On the other, he was fairly certain that this pony could blast him to bits if he lied, so he said, “She goes by Pinkie Pie.”
Luna’s heart sank, she was one of the elements, the Element of Laughter. Luna sat through the rest of the performance waiting for her chance to see Pinkie Pie. Smoky ran over to her once the performance was done. “Well done, as always.”
Pinkie Pie simply grinned. “I know everyone was smiling and happy.”
“Except," Luna interrupted, "for the goblin that you just murdered.”
Pinkie Pie looked in the direction of the voice. "Princess Luna?" she asked. “How did you get here?”
“That is not important child," Luna said sweetly. "You must come with us back to Equestria, this place has harmed you.”
“No, this place helped me.” Content with the silence of the moon princess Pinkie continued, “I always had these urges to do these terrible things, but I was told that they were wrong. So I lived like a normal pony, the way I was told I should live.”
“That is the right way to live child," Luna said, still maintaining her calm demeanor. "You hurt that creature up there.”
“Only a little," Pinkie argued. "The Lotus Nectar numbs the pain after a while.”
“What does pain matter when you killed him?” Luna asked angrily.
“He went out smiling didn’t he?” the party pony argued.
“How do you think that makes what you did okay?” Luna growled back.
“Because the Rakdos think it is," Pinkie replied. "The people who come to my performances think it is, and by the way, goddess of the moon, I’m not going back to Equestria.”
Luna snapped, “You. Will. Come. Back.”
Pinkie Pie looked her straight in the eye. “No.”
Luna stared back. “This place and these people have tainted you.”
“Why?" the white party pony asked. "I’m still making people smile and laugh, in fact I’m doing more than throwing a birthday party that people forget about the next day, I’m a sensation that brings joy and laughter all over Ravnica.”
The moon princess shook her head. “To all the wrong people.”
“Who are you to decide," Pinkie snapped back at her. "Besides I’m not the only one who’s gotten their hooves dirty, Dashie has quite the kill streak herself.”
“Loyalty and Laughter," Luna muttered. "Equestria is doomed if they ever discover what you have become.”
“All the more reason for me to stay," Pinkie Pie said as she started walking away, Smoky following behind. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an after party to attend.”
Pinkie and Smoky wandered off leaving Luna alone with her thoughts. “Two of the elements have betrayed us, what are we to do sister?” She sat and sobbed for a while before deciding to go after Rainbow Dash, and hope that there was still some loyalty left in her.
Cadence found herself flying amidst the skies of Ravnica looking for something that Rarity referred to as “the city-tree.” The world of Ravnica was sprawling in all directions, a cityscape that covered the entire world. Cadence had been surprised to find out that the city she found herself in covered the entire planet, but Rarity had assured her that it was more beautiful than she could imagine. The city skies didn’t disappoint in this regard. The sky was beautiful, even if it was full of clouds, and the people of the city below bustled to and fro like small worker ants below Cadence as she swerved around the buildings spires as she made her way to her destination.
Vitu-Ghazi, the city tree, certainly lived up to its name. The tree was the size of a mountain with branches holding up entire towns and cities sprouting out from all sides. From the top of the tree sprouted a large series of branches that all curled around each other and held up a gleaming marble colored cityscape.
Cadence flew down to the city and was met with a large number of glances by various races. Half human, half horses trotted around casting glares at Cadence whilst tree-creatures locked eyes on her as she walked along. Cadence walked inside to be greeted by an enormous tangle of roots collected in the center of a large room. In the center of the roots was a collection of three women cloaked in green whose lower bodies were made of roots. As Cadence walked in she could also hear birds singing and a familiar voice.
“La, la, la, la.” There was a pause before the birds mimicked the voice. Cadence listened as the voice and the birds continued to sing. “La, la, la.”
“Who wishes to speak with the Trostani?” the green-cloaked women called, silencing the voice.
Just then a butter-colored pegasus flew out from behind the bushes accompanied by various birds. “Princess Cadence?”
“Fluttershy," Cadence remarked, "thank goodness you’re okay.”
“Fluttershy," asked the woman, "who is this?”
Fluttershy flew down and bowed before the tree-woman before speaking again. “Oh, of course Miss Trostani, this is Princess Cadence from Equestria, the land where I was born, and Princess Cadence this is the Trostani, the dryad who speaks for the Selesnya Conclave.”
Cadence bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, however you should know that more specifically than simply speaking for the guild we speak to the Selesnya conclave on behalf of the parun Mat’Selesnya who speaks from the Worldsoul.”
Cadence stumbled back, earning a chuckle from the dryad. “I’m sorry Trostani, but I only just arrived in Ravnica.”
“I understand; the Selesnya Conclave’s purpose is to sow the seeds of unity amongst the people of Ravnica; the word parun is to describe the founder of a guild. Mat’Selesnya was the parun of this guild, and of course the Worldsoul is where all go after death.”
“I see, while the history of your guild is interesting I came here for a purpose.” The Trostani quizzically arched an eyebrow at Cadence. “I’ve come to invite Fluttershy back home.”
“Oh, well thank you so much Princess Cadence ma’am but well this is the really busy season," Fluttershy whispered back. "Oh by the way I work here as a caretaker to Vitu-Ghazi, where a lot of Selesnyans make a pilgrimage here from all over Ravnica so I’m really needed here if you don’t mind me staying for a short while longer.”
“I’ll have none of it,” the Trostani yelled. “Fluttershy is an important piece of the Conclave, the needs of one do not matter when compared to the needs of the many, that is the purpose of the Selesnya Conclave.” Fluttershy cringed at the Trostani’s shrill proclamation.
“I believe that it is Fluttershy’s choice, not yours Trostani, and I believe that I didn’t finish." Cadence waited a few seconds, to make sure that the dryad wouldn't interrupt her. "The reason I want her to come home is that one of the other ponies teleported here was murdered.”
Fluttershy blanched. “Who?”
“Scootaloo," Cadence responded. "But the people around here seem to call her Scognor.”
Fluttershy looked near tears but the Trostani simply laughed as she remarked, “The daughter of Borborygmos, so the Gruul have gotten what’s coming to them for their brutish ways.”
Cadence glared at the Trostani. “I don’t care what you think of the people of the guild she was a part of, but a death is still a death.”
“The death of a Gruul is not a day of mourning, ‘princess,’ it is a day of celebration, that there is one less destructive monster stomping around Ravnica, and more of their land can be reclaimed by the Conclave.” Trostani calmed a bit before speaking again. “Besides, I do not see how this affects Fluttershy.”
Cadence stomped forward, “The body was brought to the Transguild Promenade and left there as a message. She could be in danger while she is here.”
“Fluttershy stays here in the Vitu-Ghazi at all times," the dryad replied. "We have others bring food and water to her so that she can be constantly tending to our gardens; she is in no danger while she is here in the world-tree.”
“How do you know that she will be safe here?" Cadence asked. "How do you know that it wasn’t someone here that murdered Scootaloo in the first place?”
The Trostani backed away in disgust. “How dare you claim that someone in my guild would stoop so low as to become a common murderer?”
“You said yourself that the death of a Gruul was worth celebrating," argued Cadence. "If you weren’t rather ‘attached’ to this place I would suspect you.”
“Enough,” Fluttershy screamed. “I’m sorry, but really Princess I don’t think that a member of the Selesnya would do such a thing. On the other hoof, Miss Trostani, I do think that one of my friends’ deaths is a day to mourn not celebrate.”
Trostani smiled. “Your kindness is a blessing and a curse Fluttershy.”
“It’s what makes her who she is," Cadence shot back. "More than you could possibly know, Trostani.”
With that, Cadence flew off back to the promenade where hopefully the other alicorns had more luck than her.
Princess Luna had been flying for hours after her meeting with Pinkie Pie, searching the skies for signs of Rainbow Dash. Her conversation with the corrupted element scared her, it scared her that the Elements of harmony could be so easily corrupted and turned into pale shadows of their former selves. However the night skies of Ravnica calmed the alicorn somewhat. The cool and crisp night air, the moon off in the distance, and the only ones that she had to share this beautiful sight with were the other nocturnal animals.
Luna’s night reverie was shattered when she saw a large skeletal monster flying towards her. The creature was bone, only bone, even its wings only contained loose strands of sinew connecting the various vertebrae. Luna slowed as she approached it, not wanting to anger the flying beast. It was at that point that Luna was greeted with the familiar sight of a rainbow trail approaching the creature.
Rainbow Dash flew at the beast at full speed slamming into the flying skeleton straight in its midsection. The creature let out a shrill wail as it tried to right itself after the blast. Rainbow turned around and flew through several clouds in the distance before swinging back around and flying past the skeleton again leaving a trail of lightning coursing through the skeletal monstrosity.
“Rainbow Dash?”
“Huh?” Rainbow turned her head around and locked eyes with Luna, which is when Luna noticed that something was strange. Rainbow’s normally magenta eyes were now a sharp teal and shaped in slits. Her wings were now sharper and the feathers were almost completely gone, replaced with sharp metal. “Princess Luna?”
“Rainbow Dash, we have found thee.” Luna flew over and embraced the pegasus. “Thank goodness, we can bring thee home to Equestria.”
Rainbow Dash broke from the hug. “Wait, I can’t go home yet Princess.” Rainbow motioned for the Princess to follow her. “Zegana has a few assignments for me to finish around here.” Rainbow thought for a moment, “Then again it’ll be kind of difficult to get back otherwise. Here I’ll show you where you can usually find me.”
The two eventually flew to a spire coated in ivy and the symbol of the Simic guild. “Rainbow Dash," Luna began, "you are a member of this guild?”
Rainbow nodded. “Yep, and look at my new enhancements, they made my wings even sleeker, lowers wind resistance so the longer I’m flying in one direction the faster I get, and it’s a pretty convenient weapon too.”
Luna’s face dropped. “Yes well, we heard from Pinkie…”
“That psycho," Rainbow dismissed. "Yeah, anything she says is probably just a lie.”
“That you had been killing other creatures," Luna repeated. "Possibly for this guild that you belong to?”
Rainbow stopped and her expression fell a little. “Well okay, yeah a little I guess.”
Luna fell into using the royal Canterlot voice, “So what she says is true?”
“Well yeah, but it’s not like I’m as bad as she is, I mean come on her ‘Surprise’ act is pretty disgusting.” She paused and looked at a picture hanging on the wall of the spire, which appeared to be a bedroom of some kind. “I only do what Zegana wants me to do.”
“Zegana?” Luna asked.
“Yeah she’s the leader of the combine," Rainbow Dash said while pointing to a picture on the wall depicting a merfolk woman. "And she’s the one who helped me get these great additions that made me better than I could ever be, so yeah what she wants done gets done.”
Luna shook her head, “What could possibly be so important that it could drive you to murder?”
Rainbow flashed her new wings, “You want to know the only dream I ever had Luna?” Luna kept silent simply staring at Rainbow. “I wanted to join the Wonderbolts ever since I was a filly, all I wanted was to prove that I was better than what everypony else thought.”
“Rainbow Dash, you are the element of Loyalty, a far more important position than a stunt flyer.”
“Not to everypony else, when I was a kid I was constantly put down by kids all the time. Then I move to Ponyville get a fresh start but that isn’t what I wanted.” She paused. “I wanted to prove that those kids who made fun of me were wrong.”
“And artificial enhancements fix this problem?”
“They aren’t artificial,” Rainbow screamed. “They’re real, they’re extensions of myself, an alteration of what I was, to what I could be. My wings are sharper, they let me fly faster, much faster; my eyes can see in darkness and foggy weather; I’m more sensitive to sudden weather changes so I can alter course during weird weather shifts easier.”
“None of those things are natural Rainbow Dash, you are an artificial flyer, I don’t believe that the Wonderbolts would accept you in your current state.”
“They are natural, the Simic believe in advancing natural evolution to make things better faster, these are natural evolutions it just took an afternoon to make them happen as opposed to generations.”
Luna’s heart sank; it was true the element of loyalty had been corrupted just as the element of laughter. “This seems like a moot point considering your current decision but there was a murder, of a pony like you, Scootaloo.”
“So the little Cyclops went and got herself killed," Rainbow Dash said with a noticeable amount of venom in her voice. "Life sucks.”
“How could you speak in such a manner?”
“The last time I saw the kid she was acting just like you are now, then when she realized that ‘old’ Rainbow Dash wasn’t coming back she vowed revenge against me, said that when she grew up that she’d be the one to kill me.”
Luna stopped at the window to the spire. “While it may not be very Princess like to say, I can see where she was coming from.” With that Luna flew off into the night sky heading back towards the Promenade where she sincerely hoped that her sister or her niece would return with at least one of the elements.
Princess Celestia was left with an unenviable task, searching the undercity of Ravnica for the Element of Honesty. There are not many, if any, nice things to say about Ravnica’s undercity. It was the home of the Dimir guild when they still functioned; it was the current location of the guildhall of the Rakdos, Rix-Maadi. And of course, the Golgari swarm made their home in the sewers and graveyards.
But it wasn’t just the people who made their homes down in the undercity that made it unpleasant. The undercity is covered in grime and wastes, thus it is universally considered a smelly and horribly disgusting place to be, let alone live in. Of course there are people who do live down there, those who are the lowest of the low of Ravnica’s society have to live down here. Many of the people who didn’t belong to the guilds had to begin living down here once the guilds regained power, and of course many of the poorer members of Ravnica society began living down here, and some even began joining the Golgari or the Rakdos.
Celestia slowly trudged through the undercity searching for Applejack. She had been told that the Golgari swarm made their home near the graveyards of the undercity but the best advice that any passerby was able to give her was ‘follow the bugs.’
Celestia found her way to another graveyard in the undercity with a small wooden plank reading, “Resting place of the Guildless.” Celestia could barely look at the ad-hoc graveyard, the graves were poorly dug, clearly in a hurry, they were marked with small pieces of wood with pictures on them instead of proper gravestones with names carved in. But in the middle of this graveyard was a familiar Stetson hat being worn by an unfamiliar sight.
“Who are you, why are you wearing that hat?” Celestia shouted.
“What do ya mean," asked back a voice with a very thick accent. "It’s mah hat, who are...? Princess?”
“Applejack?”
The Princess couldn’t believe her eyes, in front of her stood the Element of Honesty, but she was different. Applejack’s orange fur had turned grayish, and her eyes had turned a sickening green. Her legs were surrounded by swirling mass of green vines entering and exiting her body. Applejack’s already quite muscular body was even more toned and muscular, and along her back was a long scar haphazardly sewn together. Whatever this creature was, she wasn’t the Applejack that the Princess knew and remembered.
“Well Princess howdy, how are ya, actually how’d you get here?" Applejack giggled. "I mean we’re a little out of the way.”
The Princess was dumbfounded, she talked like Applejack, she wore the same hat, but she wasn’t, no, she couldn’t be. Just as Celestia was about to respond to Applejack’s inquiry an elven creature entered the graveyard.
“Applejack," the other creature hissed. "How long does it take to acquire a few guildless corpses?”
The creature had blackened skin and numerous sewed up scars across his torso. He wore another creature’s skin as a cloak and what seemed to be bear paws as gauntlets. The elf stank of death and decay and was surrounded by numerous little bugs and scavengers. The staff in his right hand glowed a soft purplish and emanated darkened magicks. Celestia’s horn flashed a harsh white, and she pointed it at the monster that pointed his staff at her in return.
“What are you? And what have you done to Applejack?” Celestia’s eyes flashed with a heated fury.
“I resurrected her, brought her back from the horrid curse of mortality," responded the rotting creature.
“You monster!” The princess prepared to charge the beast, but Applejack stood in her way.
“Stop, Princess this is mah boss Jarad," Applejack said while waving to Jarad. "And yes, he resurrected me.”
Celestia’s eyes went from blazing fury to watering with tears. Applejack had never been one to lie, she meant it when she said that this Jarad was her ‘boss.’ “What… what do you…?”
“Well I work for the Golgari," Applejack explained, "Cause Jarad here brought me back from the brink, or well past it.”
“Necromancy is wrong!” Celestia shouted.
Jarad broke out into raspy laughing fits. “So you consider a second chance at living 'wrong,' goodness.”
“Now Jarad," Applejack responded. "She’s immortal so it only makes sense that she doesn’t really get it, let me explain it to her.”
Applejack walked over to the stunned solar princess who looked at tears. “Princess, when I came through that portal to Ravnica ah didn’t last very long.” Celestia looked up at Applejack, who, despite the zombification still had a very warm smile, a smile that told anyone who saw it that everything would be okay. “I wanted to find the others as soon as possible, but in the end I got myself killed," she said with a whisper to her voice. "Just like mah parents.”
“Your parents?” Celestia questioned.
“Yeah, mah parents died when I was a little filly you know, a farm was on fire and apparently somepony was still inside, they went in, never came out.” She sighed. “They died protecting others, but I always wondered why, why did they have to be the ones who were killed instead of somepony else? Somepony else who wouldn’t have been mourned, like mah mom and dad.”
Celestia embraced the element of honesty. “It’s normal for ponies to have those thoughts Applejack, but in the end everypony has to die.”
“Except they don’t, because I didn’t, and I won’t.” She broke from the hug. “Jarad brought me back and has been teaching me how to bring myself back should I need to.”
“Applejack, please come back to Equestria, we’ll find some way to fix what’s wrong, I promise.”
“Alright, Princess, you win," Applejack responded with a warm smile. "Just one thing before I go.”
“Anything!” Celestia screamed.
“My ma and pa," the undead farmer said silently, "I want to bring them back.”
Celestia’s heart sank she saw the words coming but at the same time she didn’t want to. “No, you know I can’t say yes to that.”
“Why not?" Applejack asked politely. "What’s the upside of dying anyway, why is it so necessary that everypony dies?”
Celestia shook her head. “It’s a natural part of the life cycle.”
“But it isn’t!" Applejack pleaded. "Look at me, would you consider me unnatural, princess?”
Celestia couldn’t say it, she knew she had to, but the words refused to form. “Yes.”
Jarad stood in front of a crushed Applejack brandishing his staff, “You’ll excuse me for saying, I believe then that this conversation is over and the two of us should be on our way.”
“Please come back Applejack," Celestia begged. "It isn’t safe here in this world.”
“I can take care of myself princess," Applejack responded coldly. "Jarad made sure I can.”
“Perhaps Scootaloo thought the same way,” the alicorn said under her breath.
“Scootaloo," Applejack repeated, concern slipping back into her voice. "She… what happened?”
“She was killed and her body was left at the Transguild Promenade," Celestia replied. "Shining is looking into it now.”
Celestia turned to leave and took one last look back at the zombified mare. Applejack’s eyes were tear-filled, the last vestige of normality left in what used to be a stand-up member of pony society. Celestia focused her energy to teleport herself back to the Promenade; she couldn’t bear being near the graves any longer.
Princess Celestia’s signature teleport signaled her re-entry to the Promenade. As the light from her appearance died down, it was replaced with the blackness of the night. The Promenade, which that morning had been filled with various creatures, was now empty and lifeless, filled with only the chirping of bugs and the three alicorns who agreed to meet there, in front of the statue where they had found the body of Scootaloo earlier that morning.
“Sister!” Luna’s voice called out, but upon seeing her sister her voice sank. “You didn’t have any luck either then.” Celestia shook her head and quietly embraced her sister. Cadence flew in as well, also alone.
“So, not one of them decided to come back. We really don’t have the best of luck, do we?” Celestia tried to add a humorous tone to the last sentence but her cracked voice betrayed her true emotional state.
“Well, Rarity said that she wants to help Shining with the investigation so those two will come home once we have that all finished up," Cadence recapped, "Also Fluttershy agreed to come back once she’s finished with some big tourist season at the Vitu-Ghazi.”
“Cadence, my dear, you have had far better luck than me. Twilight Sparkle, my dear student, now serves a dragon and refuses to come home," Celestia added, tears welling in her eyes. "And the element of honesty now serves the undead under the leadership of a man named Jarad.” It took all the self-control that Celestia had to not break down into sobbing fits at the mention of the new residency of one of the elements.
“We have suffered similar luck, sister,” Luna commented. “The elements of laughter and loyalty have both become murderous psychopaths. Pinkie Pie is a murderer/circus act and Rainbow dash is apparently working for the Simic under the leadership of someone named Zegana.”
Celestia sighed, “Perhaps we should simply leave them to their fates.”
Luna was taken aback. “What are you saying sister? That we simply abandon these ponies to this world?”
“If they do not wish to be rescued then there is nothing that we can do,” Celestia said solemnly.
“No,” Cadence answered simply. “Shining, Rarity, and Fluttershy do want to come home, just not yet. I’ll wait here and return with them once the investigation is complete.”
“Yes, we will stay as well,” Luna confirmed. “With a memory wipe spell or the like Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie could possibly be salvaged.”
“I can’t stay here.” Celestia’s eyes were now flowing with tears. “I can’t watch my little ponies become these creatures, it-it is too much.”
“Then go home sister, let us handle things here, we shall return with as many of them as we can save.”
Celestia nodded. “Eight, I sensed eight of them when I came here… if Applejack is undead and therefore she wasn’t one of the eight I sensed then there must be at least one other we did not meet with.”
Cadence also nodded. “Yes, and if Scootaloo was murdered before we came here then there might even be one more that we didn’t see.”
“Please, bring my little ponies home.” With that Celestia departed in a bright flash, leaving her sister and Cadence to the world of Ravnica.
“We shall stay with Rainbow Dash for tonight, to see if perhaps we can convince her to abandon her new leader.” With that Luna also flew off leaving Cadence, who also knew where she would go next. She silently flew off towards the Boros barracks to meet with her husband. Tomorrow he would begin investigating Scootaloo’s murder, and that meant that he was one step closer to coming home.
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First, I was like, "oh, city of guilds? That reminds me a lot of—"
Yep, Ravnica. Interesting to see where you'll take this. Also, this story wouldn't happen to be motivated by the recent Return to Ravnica block, would it?
EDIT: So, I've finally read it. I like where this is going, but it could use some formatting; it seems really wall-of-texty at the moment, and you would probably do well to separate instances of dialogue. The latter half of the chapter seems okay on that, though.
1262856 The artwork wasn't an immediate giveaway that this story referred to Ravnica?
Anyway, glad to see another MLP/MTG crossover.
1262856
Kind of yeah, i'm disappointed by most of the cards spoiled and the way that the story looks thus far so i decided to rewrite it myself with ponies of course
Not bad, I liked it. Dialogue got a bit wooden and generic in places, but overall, not bad. Personally speaking I would have preferred a bit more world building- any one unfamiliar with the setting is going to feel a little lost, but that is a personal preference. Gets a like from me.
1265360
There will be a little more in future chapters, actually part of the reason i had to split the first chapter into two parts, since i don't usually post a 10000 word chapter
Thanks for the like.
1265512 fair enough.
Noting down things that bug me as I go:
Celestia was making me go "Y U NO be more reasonable?" with Twilight, but it was justified well.
I really don't like how you've made Pinkie murderously schizophrenic (or otherwise insane), but at least it's not in direct conflict with established fact.
I really, really don't get how Luna (or Scootaloo, for that matter) could consider Rainbow Dash "corrupted". I mean, sure she's a bit more into body modification than is socially acceptable back home, but she's acting perfectly in keeping with Loyalty. (Luna possibly has the excuse of being hypersensitive and condemnatory of any change in behavior, given her own experiences. But Scootaloo? wtf?)
Actually, on second reading of that passage, something does pop out: Rainbow Dash doesn't point out that the beings she kills are clear and present threats to someone (which would make killing them an appropriate, if possibly excessive, action), which kind of suggests that at least some of them weren't. Oops, yeah, that'll make other ponies uncomfortable. So Pinkie is murderously crazy, and RD is murderously loyal. Marvelous.
Well, nothing bugs me enough to make me drop the story yet, but I'm being stingy with my praise for once. I'm definitely gonna keep reading, though.
Only read first chapper, didn't like the whole "Ravnica currupted the mane 6 thing". Makes it look like Ravnica is inhherently evil or that Equestria is the only good place. Still it caught my atention, i'll read a few more chapters and then make my decision.
You chose very...interesting guilds for the Mane Six. I would have changed RD to Boros, maybe Shining to Azorius, Applejack to Simic or Gruul, and Pinkie and Scoots to be guildless.
3831497 In another MTG crossover, the ponies are like this:
Twilight/Spike: Personal students of Ral Zarek and Niv-Mizzet, respectively.
Apple Family: Golgari rot farmers/necromancers
Fluttershy: Revered as a saint by the Selasnya Conclave
Shining Armor: Azorius arrester serving under Lavinia
Rarity: the only honest Orzhov banker
Chrysalis: Dimir spy/librarian
Rainbow Dash: Boros skyjek
Lyra: Simic biomancer of Tentacle Clade
Pinkie: Rakdos club host. Still relatively sane.
The Gruul clans have a random crazy pony.
Derpy: Planeswalker, ally of Jace Beleren, Guildless Maze-Runner