Ravnican Race Relations · 9:24pm May 29th, 2014
The following was a writing exercise I started in March, in an attempt to get back on the horse with The Implicit Neighs. It sort of worked, in that I used the story to procrastinate on finishing this. 
In any case, here's an analysis of how ponies get along with many of the other denizens of Ravnica:
Centaurs:
Ponies and centaurs want to get along, and therein lies the problem. Both sets of hooved sapients tend to assume they have more in common with each other than they actually do, which leads to misunderstandings and frustration. That's not to say that they can't ever get along, but good first impressions are few and far between. This trend hits earth ponies the hardest, as they're the physiologically closest to centaurs.
Dryads:
Dryads are predisposed towards liking earth ponies as part of their vegetable nature. Even the most heinous necromancer has a brief window of goodwill with them before they can, with difficulty, suppress the instinctual response.
On the other hand, the odd mental architecture of dryads and the phylogeny of ponies make the former hard-pressed to distinguish the latter from one another. Dryads can note horns, wings, and the lack thereof, but beyond that, their minds tend to lump ponies into archetypes. This can lead to them trying to continue a conversation, only to realize they're speaking to a different extension of the concept of Pegasus, which is embarrassing and frustrating for both parties. Joining the Selesnya Conclave is the best way for ponies to distinguish themselves in the minds of dryads. Aside from that, it takes considerable notoriety. As a result, ponies outside of the Conclave aren't the biggest fans of dryads.
Note that Trostani does not exhibit the usual perceptual eccentricity. Or, if they does, they experiences it for all species. It's hard to tell. Even grammar doesn't escape the voice(s) of Mat'Selesnya unscathed; scientific analysis doesn't stand a chance.
Element-Kin:
Flame-kin like anyone who can put up a good fight, and pony members of the Boros Legion definitely meet that requirement. Outside of the Legion, unicorns are most likely to enjoy the company of flame-kin. Something about the elementals' magic speaks to the ponies, usually telling them to burn things.
Root-kin, like dryads, have to struggle to dislike earth ponies, and the feeling is often mutual. Warm fuzzy feedback loops have been known to occur, especially during coat brushing.
Meanwhile, pegasi look at element-kin and either smell burning feathers or feel clawing branches. In either case, they keep their distance.
Elves:
Elvish longevity had always been the root of their arrogance; they felt surrounded by children. Then they met earth ponies, and the rest is history. Elves finally had an equal of sorts, one that understood the land on the same intuitive level. Usually. There's been the occasional odd one, but elves have always been good at ignoring inconvenient deviations from a pleasant worldview.
Oh, and there are other ponies. The unicorns produce someone interesting now and again, but the winged ones... eh.
Meanwhile, earth ponies appreciate elves for having similar sensibilities, especially the vague sense of alienation that those close to the earth feel in a global city. Unicorns respect elves for their magical insight and genteel attitude. Pegasi feel the pointy-eared snobs combine the worst aspects of the other tribes in a single insufferable package.
Faeries:
Ponies like faeries They're clever, they're funny, and for the right price, they can be very helpful. Ponies really don't see why the wee folk have such a poor reputation among most other races.
Faeries know better than to get on the wrong side of a species whose tails are still adapted for swatting flies.
It should be noted that there was once a fae tribe of ponies, but they haven't been seen since Ravnica's air quality started nosediving from increased industry.
Goblins:
Goblins and ponies have a love-hate relationship. Which is to say, goblins love ponies and ponies hate goblins. The chief problem is that ponies aren't just bright and colorful, they're also the perfect size for goblins to ride, and it has always been the philosophy of gobkind that it is better to get away with it than to ask permission.
As such, ponies in goblin-rich neighborhoods often wear spiked saddles or similar attire that will hurt should someone get the urge to go for a horsey ride. More restrained goblins, usually those who are Boros or Izzet guild members, are treated courteously, but carefully, especially by ponies who have porcupine blankets in their closets.
A less noted point of contention between the two races is that ponies are delicious to the goblin palette. Not many gobs know this, most of them Gruul or Rakdos members. Thankfully, even fewer have actually tasted pony. Most just retell stories of Grandpa Flurt eating smiles and rainbows before the bouncer killed everyone.
On a final, less gruesome note, many have noted that Krenko's mob has avoided raiding pony-frequented establishments for almost a year now. There are countless rumors as to why, but none have been confirmed. The boss certainly isn't offering explanations.
Griffins:
The griffins of Ravnica are about as intelligent as either of their components, though somewhat more easily trained. However, archeological research has found ancient accounts of a race of intelligent griffins that lived relatively near the pony homeland. Sadly, relics of this civilization are few, and its fate remains a mystery. That being said, some have noted griffins' infamous taste for horseflesh and have drawn their own conclusions.
Humans:
From a social or magical perspective, humans and ponies have a great deal in common. Both can adapt to virtually any environment, have virtually no racial mana color affiliation (white in both, but so minor that it's practically a rounding error,) and work well in almost any role. Given this, many believe the two get along swimmingly.
Those people are wrong.
It isn't that ponies and humans hate each other. They just never quite understand one another. Maybe it's that the two species are too similar, each making intuitive but incorrect assumptions. Maybe, comfortable as they are with having a set of expectations for each other species, both are thrown by a race that isn't so easily defined. Maybe they still just look funny to one another after all these years.
Whatever the case, ponies and humans have never quite "clicked," and each tends to regard the other as "the weird ones." Closeness isn't uncommon, but it's a rare pony who has a human best friend.
Kraul:
The reclusive insect-folk rarely see any surface dweller, pony or otherwise. As such, virtually all their equine interaction is with Golgari earth ponies, who they find frank but fair.
Loxodon:
Loxodon are considered one of the few races capable of out-stubborning an earth pony, certainly the only one that isn't either enormous or undead. The elephant people tend to keep their emotions to themselves, so it can be hard to say how they feel about ponies. Ponies themselves often don't know what to make of the stoic figures, most intimidated by the combination of apparent apathy and sheer bulk.
That being said, there are always outliers, be they demonstrative loxodon or taciturn ponies. In either case, they mesh well with the other species... though in the latter case, it can be hard to tell.
Both races sometimes find common ground in righteous fury; beneath the veneers of friendship and calm are strikingly similar fires of rage at those who would disturb the herd. Close bonds have been known to be forged between loxodon and pony in the heat of battle
Megahumanoids:
Whether a cyclops, giant, ogre, or troll, little ponies step carefully around one of the city's largest bipeds. Oh, they try to be careful, but it can be hard to watch where you're going when the ground's eight or more feet away.
Ogres are the least feared in the group, and ogrish cuisine is actually appreciated by some adventurous ponies. Those who would join their ranks always get three key pieces of advice: stick to the spicier dishes, don't ask what the lumps are, and don't eat it more than once a week. (Of course, those are the nice, neighborly ogres. The other sort is as feared as anything else that picks fights with buildings and wins.)
Ponies try to keep their distance from the other megahumanoids. Trolls have metabolisms to match their healing factors and sometimes have trouble seeing a pony as something other than meat on the hoof. Cyclopes are ten feet tall on average and have poor depth perception. Giants, like ogres, are a mixed bag. Some want only to perform their duty, which usually involves standing in one place. Others are the reason why "unnecessary tossing of the citizenry" had to be explicitly criminalized.
Merfolk:
The merfolk emerged from Ravnica's sunken depths a few years ago, and most ponies have never met one face-to-face. Those who have largely appreciate the amphibious race's contemplative, unurbanized sincerity. Of course, almost all of those ponies are members of the Simic Combine.
The stories of "sea ponies," folklore that has endured since before the Old Guildpact, have been roundly dismissed by merfolk. Certainly none have appeared since the formation of the zonots. Still, some can't help but wonder what the merfolk ate for all those years...
Minotaurs:
Ponies and minotaurs have been close allies for millennia, even before the city covered the entire plane. Minotaurs know ponies are staunch allies both in and out of battle. Ponies tend to see minotaurs more as rambunctious big brother figures who may be a bit too aggressive for their own good. Most Boros guildponies, of course, think they're just aggressive enough.
Monsters:
For the purposes of this blog, the term "monster" refers to a sapient being that one wouldn't normally expect to see on a casual stroll down Ivy Lane.
Angels, whether fiery Boros or cold Orzhov, tend to group ponies in the same three categories they use to define everyone: those who must be protected, those who can fend for themselves, and those from whom others must be protected. Ponies look on the figures with somewhat less awe than most, for the idealized forms don't resonate well in the equine breast. Pegasi are especially unimpressed.
Archons care about the law above all else, and what form lawbreakers take is of little interest to them if the law has nothing to say on such matters. A pony's opinion of archons largely depends on how recent, numerous, and severe that pony's criminal acts are.
Demons don't like most ponies. Most are far too easily satisfied, and having your life's meaning tattooed on your ass means you're not going to suffer the sort of ennui that leads to the kind of bad decision demons live for. Still, at least some ponies know how to party. Most ponies, like most sapients, view demons with fear. But there are always exceptions.
Djinni find unicorns hilariously quaint, pegasi charmingly clumsy, and earth ponies strangely endearing. Most try to hide this affection behind pure condescension, and their true feelings are far from public knowledge. As a result, most ponies who have had any experience with djinni think they're jerks.
There is only one dragon whose opinion matters on Ravnica, and he thinks ponies are some of the most useful creatures on the plane. Any winged lizard that thinks differently can take it up with him. Similarly, when ponies think of dragons, they usually think of the dragon, and are generally grateful for both his genius and his distance from them. Of course, Izzet ponies are as sycophantic as any other member of the guild.
Gorgons aren't that fond of ponies. Flooded as they are with magic, ponies take an oddly long time to petrify. As such, gorgon artists find they can never get their pony subjects to hold a pose, and the maintainers of the Deadbridge find ponies have no appreciation for engineering in their final moments. Ponies who aren't Golgari members are as afraid of the snake-headed woman-things as any other sane being, and even the crazy ones usually don't want to be statues.
Crueler imps like to practice hit-and-run tactics on earth ponies. Speed ensures the thumbless creatures can't react in time to do much. Unicorns are a much riskier venture, and pegasi are right out. More enterprising imps look at what's really important: budget. Ponies usually view both kinds as nuisances.
Most sphinxes' opinions about ponies are, unsurprisingly, a mystery. Isperia is impartial, as befits the Supreme Judge. Ponies look on such immense beings with awe... though not many have much patience for riddles.
Similar to dragons, there is at present only one weird with an opinion to offer on the matter, and as of this writing, he's still collecting data on the matter. Pony opinions on weirds depend both on the pony and on the weird's composition. Electricity is a good way to win over pegasi, while earth ponies' preferred material is self-explanatory. Unicorns, however, tend to experience an unpleasant resonance in their horns from the conflicting elements playing against one another. Izzet members quickly learn how to dampen this phenomenon, but the rest try to avoid weirds when possible.
Non-pony equines:
Ponies aren't horses. They cannot emphasize this enough. They may jokingly refer to themselves as horses, but any non-pony who does so is asking for a pair of back hooves to a sensitive area.
That's not to say that ponies have anything against horses, non-pony pegasi, aquus steeds, or whatever equinoid krasis the Simic have gestated this week. But they don't appreciate being lumped with such creatures any more than humans like being called apes.
Shapeshifters:
Ponies rarely have any opinion about shapeshifters, for the ponies usually don't know there are any about. After all, it is the nature of shapeshifters to keep their true nature hidden. Their feelings towards ponies are little different than those towards any of the still races, save that changing into one is rarely a good idea; a colorful pony doesn't blend into a crowd nearly as well as yet another human, and a drab pony is a notable oddity.
Of course, there are old stories of a race of shapeshifters from the same line as ponies, one that harried them since time immemorial, feeding on the very friendship and love that defined their old nation. But what are the odds of any of those being true?
Thrulls:
Earth ponies recoil from thrulls. The reanimated, sloughed-off flesh of an Orzhov patriarch exudes an unnatural aura that even the undead can't quite match. It takes years of exposure for a pony to build up a resistance, and very few who aren't members of the Syndicate need or want to do so.
The Cult of Rakdos is the only other guild that uses thrulls, and those are made of the repurposed flesh of lesser fiends (i.e. imps and devils.) They're no more wrong than they were in their last life, and thus don't inspire instinctual revulsion in earth ponies. The boiling acid, on the other hand...
The Undead:
Death can be far from the end on Ravnica, and that's as true for ponies as it is for anyone else. As noted above, earth ponies who aren't necromantically trained are often unnerved by the undead, a strange interaction between the body or soul's animating energies and the pony's intuitive sense of natural cycles.
While the Klein bottle afterlife caused by the Old Guildpact no longer applies, souls can still linger postmortem, and pony souls are no exception. Several guilds extend membership beyond death, and some grant it posthumously. Living ponies' reactions to ghosts are mixed. Most are usually terrified, but the Orzhov make use of debtors as they always have, and the Boros still terminate the more vengeful spirits when necessary.
Those shades that can think see ponies as little more than unconventionally shaped sources of the precious commodities of heat, life, and blood. Ponies are usually too busy running away to think much about shades. Well, those who aren't commanding them, anyway.
Vampirism cannot affect ponies. Indeed, vampires cannot even metabolize pony blood. According to legend, this protection was put in place by Luna Herself. Whatever the reason, this incompatibility has actually endeared each to the other; vampires appreciate a race they don't constantly see as prey, and ponies have no reason to be nervous around bloodsuckers.
(The chiroptera, or bat ponies, are not vampires, and have been indentured to the Orzhov for generations. In pony communities, "bat" has long been slang for "one who is owned by the Syndicate." Both chiroptera and Orzhov debt-slaves find the term incredibly offensive.)
Sapient zombies usually have the same opinions about ponies that they did in life. Ponies react as well to a walking, rotting corpse as anyone would, unless they work with such corpses on a regular basis.
Vedalken:
The vedalken emotional spectrum is largely dissimilar to those of humans or ponies, but they do appreciate unicorns. The horned ponies' unique neural architecture allows them to approach the vedalken mindset. (Also, while the vedalken will never admit, sometimes it's just nice not to be the only blue person in the room.) Pegasi are seen as little more than clever animals, and earth ponies not even that.
Unicorns return the appreciation, especially the intellectual ones. Other ponies want as little to do with the bald robin's-eggheads as possible.
Viashino:
Viashino may be ectotherms, but they are creatures of hot blood nonetheless. Whether feral terrors of the slums or Boros shock troops, they are ferocious, aggressive, and extreme in temperament. They tend to trigger the same prey instincts as dragons, and thus ponies rarely feel at ease around them. Pegasi often grow to like them, but still hover out of reach. The viashino themselves have no strong feelings about ponies one way or the other. To them, mammals are weird in general.
Interesting. Thinking about it, I don't think that ponies would do well in the most recent block's plane, because lions. On the other hand, there have been constellation creatures encountered by ponies before.
After reading that one chapter in the implicit neighs that mentions lorwyn I'd like to see ponies there if only for the shadowmoor flip
"Demonstrative Loxodon" made me imagine what a Loxodon version of Pinkie Pie would be like.
2158103
gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=73977&type=card
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Given the obvious Grecian influence, it could be argued that Equestria is on a remote part of Theros, or is the pony equivalent. Celestia as Heliod, Discord as Xenagos, Luna as an incarnation of Nyx...
Darn it, I do not need this idea right now.
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Just search for Dark stories. Especially ones with Nightmare Moon triumphant. (Not the Lunaverse, mind you.)
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2158396 nailed it. Though Pinkie Pie as a loxodon is also a fantastic mental image. (And I should note that loxodon and leonin are not transformed when on Ungula.)
2158804 I'd rather not see Celestia be the Heliod stand-in, because MtG story reason.
Heliod is a bigger jerk than Xenagos, believe it or not.
What about the Krasis creatures, by the way? Sure, they were, as Lyra, artificially blended organisms, but... LOOK AT THEM! That could even be where Gummy came from, being a Croconura! XD
Luna equals Keranos, Celestia equals Karametra. XD That's my view.
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Celestia could also be Ephara, perhaps. I don't know a lot of MtG backstory but if the idea is to fuse MLP and Magic then Celestia could be the UW god, who gave civilization and law to the world. Luna as Keranos works, she's usually depicted as the emotional one.
2158804 I was saying keeping Ungula the prime plane for ponies, but in a similar vein to Implicit Neighs incorporating them into other planes. I wonder how they would have reacted to being the whole story of Alara? SORRY, couldn't help myself there. Anyways, I look forward to whatever comes next from you. Ursa Major and Minor in Theros
2159030 Yeah... Ephara I could see. And considering Luna gathered Storm Clouds when she got upset on Nightmare Night... XD
Does that mean Inspiration!Rarity would be Luna's primary worshipper? XD
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Inspired!Rarity seems like the end result of rarity asking Phenax for ideas because there's a deadline coming up soon. Also, I'm picturing the pivotal scene from Sonic Rainboom but as Rainbow Dash dives to save Rarity and the Wonderbolts she's rapidly praying to Iroas, and he is sufficiently pleased that he overlooks her earlier lack of conviction and gives her a nudge.
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"Bosom Buddy" even sounds like a pony name, doesn't it? Hopefully the Loxodon doesn't hop around like Pinkie, a lot of things on shelves would get broken that way. But holy damn would Bosom Buddy and Pinkie be happy if they met each other...like, happy by their standards.
(to be clear, when I refer to "Bosom Buddy" I mean the hypothetical Loxodon Pinkie, not the card specifically...although I choose to believe they are the same and will henceforth dismiss any evidence to the contrary)
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Occupying the same role doesn't necessarily mean fulfilling it in the same way, and Celestia is going to be god of anything, it's going to be the sun. I suppose she could stand in for Elspeth instead, but I don't think either of us wants that.
Luna as Keranos is interesting. She certainly does seem to have an affinity for lightning and prophecy, as seen in "Luna Eclipsed" and "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" respectively. I could also see her as Athreos. Psychopomp Luna is always an interesting headcanon.
As for the krasis population, (What's the plural, anyway? Krasises? Krases? Krasii?) the only ponies who deal much with them are members of the Combine and those who run afoul of those members. To Simic ponies, a krasis lies somewhere between a child, a beloved pet, and a work of art. To everypony else, they're horrifying monstrosities that should not be. Sure, a shark-crab with humanoid arms sounds neat, but you don't want to meet one in a dark alley.
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Funny you should ask. I've actually made Alara versions of the Mane Six.
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Just wait until you see Bosom Buddy's answer to Pinkamena:
gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=73950&type=card
2159446 But the Cultists of Rakdos love horrifying monstrosities!
As for Celestia... I'm sorry, but Heliod's actions tainted the sun-god role in Theros. Can't stand him. And he GETS AWAY WITH HIS DEEDS, scot-free.
If Celestia is to be Sun God, I would hope it would be out of completely nuking the bastard.
2159446 I was thinking more in terms of before Alara was fractured, but that works as well.
Very interesting!
Being bright and colorful around goblins...I'm not sure if that's a survival plus or minus.
This was very nice. Thanks!
Djinni is singular, djinn is plural.
~Vriska Serket
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A little of both, really. Now, if they were bright and shiny, then they wouldn't stand a chance.
Oh. That's what happened to Ravnica's crystal ponies.
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Tell the Magic creative team that. I work with what I'm given.
2165851 Ow, my eyes.
~Vriska Serket