A Brilliant Connection!

by Sandova Mirell

An Interesting Lunch

Chapter 3: An interesting lunch

"So you're saying that your entire world is one big city?"

Xaral nodded and took another bit out of some 'hay fries', and concluded that they were indeed very tasty. He washed the bite down with what the ponies called a 'milk shake' and went on with his story.

"Indeed, Ravnica has been a metropolis for millennia. It was already 85% metropolis when the original guildmasters signed the Guildpact, the magically binding contract that made sure the guilds fulfilled a role in the city's wellbeing. The Guildpact's ten thousand year's anniversary was celebrated two centuries ago, and it was also the time it was broken and chaos erupted across the guilds. It took a century and a half to establish proper guild control in the city, but we managed."

The mares were all listening with various degrees of attention, from Rainbow Dash' casual interest to Twilight's rapt attention. She even wrote down everything he said! Xaral couldn't agree more with her fascination, he had already prepared a notebook himself for when it was his turn to ask questions.

"You keep mentioning these guilds, I know they're the ones in charge but what are they? What do they do? How big are they?"

Xaral smiled. This girl, no mare, knew how to ask questions.

"Very well, there are ten guilds in total, each fulfilling a certain role in the city's daily aspects. Each guild represents a combination of two colors of mana, and has specialties corresponding with them.

The Azorius are the embodiment of law in Ravnica, they make the laws and do anything to uphold them. Their magic is centered around white and blue mana, to protect, detain and nullify however they see fit.

The Boros are the military might of Ravnica, they are the soldiers and the officers of the law. Their magic is centered around red and white mana, and they use it to protect the innocent and crush the guilty.

The Selesnya are the soul of the Guildpact, they embody the unity of individuals in a greater whole. Although this function is largely ceremonial they take it seriously. They use white and green magic, for healing, nourishment and unity.

The Orzhov are there to control the law. If any citizen can afford their prices they will make sure the law is followed in any court. They also control most of the trade. They use white and black mana, and they use it to increase their wealth and power, as well as collecting debts and revealing the truth.

The Simic are the ones in charge of developing medicine in Ravnica, and they have taken it upon themselves to help nature survive the urban life by adapting it. They use green and blue mana to create medicine and improve nature.

The Dimir are the hidden opposition of the Guildpact, strengthening it by opposing it. I don't know how that works, but they make for very fine spies and assassins. They uncover secrets, stay hidden and acquire your innermost thoughts using black and blue mana.

The Golgari are ones in charge of food production for those that can't afford it otherwise. They make extensive use of undead and necromancy to help grow their crop. They make use of black and green mana to create and control undead, as well as growing their crop.

The Rakdos are anything you want them to be, and a whole lot more beside that. They supply bodyguards, butchers, courtesans, slaves, gladiators, assassins and other less savory services. They embody red and black mana, and they use it for anything you can think of and a whole lot more than that beside.

The Gruul are the last remnants of nature, in charge of making sure nature still has a voice in Ravnica. Their job is mostly taken over by the Selesnya and Simic, so they usually just vandalize the civilized parts so that their feral vision of nature can take over. They use the ferocity and wildness of green and red mana to make them more ferocious and wild.

And there are the Izzet, in charge of preventing natural disasters and developing technology. We also manage the fresh water supply of the city, along with power distribution. We make use of red and blue mana to research anything and harness energy for said research. We do tend to blow things up, occasionally. But our greatest achievements have always been accompanied with an explosion or two, so it's to be expected by now."

Xaral took another bite of his burger before looking back at Twilight.

"I hope this slightly biased explanation is sufficient, I am too loyal to my guild to give an objective description of the guilds."

Twilight was still writing furiously, oblivious of the distressed expressions her friends wore. Rarity was the first to speak up.

"My goodness, darling. Your world sounds, and pardon my rudeness, absolutely horrifying. How do you manage?"

Xaral thought about it, it was true that some of the guilds could be considered dangerous or even horrifying for someone living in a peaceful world. Scratch that, most of the guilds would sound horrifying, as their expressions told. Oh well, to each their own.

"Pretty easily, most of the time we all mind our own business. There might be a few minor conflicts from time to time, but real conflict hasn't happened in two hundred years. The only major problems arise when the demon Rakdos awakens and whips his follower into a bloodthirsty frenzy, but that only happens every decade or so."

Twilight had stopped writing and was also watching with a slightly disturbed expression.

"I'm afraid I must agree with Rarity on this one. Your world sounds like a very dangerous place, although it also sounds fascinating. I must ask though, what are these colors of mana you speak of? I have never heard about magic working like that before."

Now it was Xaral's turn to look shocked. An experienced spellcaster with no knowledge of the colors of mana? Unheard of, unless-

Xaral tried to gather mana using memories of his laboratory, the connection with the land acting as a conduit for the ambient red and blue mana present there.

Nothing.

Xaral couldn't feel the cool flow of blue mana nor the hot surge that accompanied red mana. He couldn't gather anything.

"This is impossible!"

Ignoring their questioning looks Xaral tried to gather mana again, to no avail. This shouldn't be possible, Ral Zarek had told him often enough that you can gather mana from everywhere. This included places not on your current plane or even places that existed outside the regular time stream! The fact that there was no colored mana in this place could only mean he was no longer in the Multiverse!

Xaral didn't know he should be glad that his invention worked better than he had hoped or despair over his current predicament. He settled for a slightly crazed chuckle before burying his face in his hand- erm, hooves.

"Are you okay?"

He felt a hoof on his back and saw Twilight standing next to him, worry etched on her features. Xaral sighed.

"No, I am not okay. I just deduced that I might not be in my own reality anymore, and the fact that I can't gather any mana at all confirms this. I have not just crossed the planar boundaries, I have found myself in a completely different reality! Knowing that it might take decades to return to Ravnica is easy to live with, knowing that I might never return is rather depressing."

Xaral was completely oblivious to the sympathetic looks he got from the mares around him, he was too wrapped up in his own spinning mind to notice anything at all. Here he was, in a different reality with endless possibilities and no way that he could ever report anything he discovered. He wasn't even sure he could continue his magic research in this world.

"Wait a minute,"

Xaral thought about it. Unicorns apparently had magic, and he now had the body of an unicorn. Therefore, he should be able to cast magic. It all seemed so simple, but how does magic work in this reality? Xaral closed his eyes and tried to look for magical energies. To his surprise he found it easily. The entire air around him was suffused with magical energy.

"But then,"

He focused his attention to the energies around him and the ponies around him. It seemed that these energies were flowing around them, gathering in specific parts of their anatomy.

"Oh, but,"

He now felt the energies with greater clarity, even around him the energies behaved like those around his companions. He tried to gather some of it using his own method, but it didn't seem to work. So it wasn't established via a connection with the land, then how did these ponies gather the energies needed for their innate magic? He had noticed that the unicorns concentrated more when using difficult magic, like the unicorn examiner did at the hospital. Yet when they used things like telekinesis it seemed like it took no effort at all.

"Which means,"

The magic is fueled by concentration, focus and probably emotion! So if he used the emotions associated with the colors of mana he could perhaps gather enough energy for a spell.

"Which would lead to,"

He tried to recollect the cool flowing sensation of blue mana, and noticed his thoughts became clearer and a little energy flowed into his horn. He then thought of the wild, hot and chaotic surge of red mana and was rewarded with more energy. He then sharpened his thoughts and focused on the wild joy of discovery, the collected focus of directing lightning, the surge of raw power flowing through his body, and was rewarded with precisely those feelings.

"Exactly!"

A massive burst of lightning surged out of his horn, filling the air with a multitude of red and blue sparks. Xaral laughed in ecstasy, he did it! He had rediscovered how to cast magic, all by himself. If he could do this, getting back to Ravnica was still within his grasp!

He was torn out of his revelry when he heard the sound of breaking glass. Xaral looked around and saw that everyone in the Snack Corner was looking at him in shock. He then noticed that the ponies closest to him were slightly singed. And finally he noticed that he had accidentally vaporized the table they were sitting at. He grinned sheepishly.

"Um, sorry?"
~
Twilight felt at loss, what did you say to somepony who just realized that he might never see his home world again? She wanted to reassure him, but noticed he had a faraway look in his dichromatic eyes.

"Wait a minute,"

Her ears perked up, he didn't sound as sad as a moment before. Everything would work out fine, it seemed. Xaral, however, was still looking like he was in deep thought and did not respond to his surroundings. Twilight recognized the symptoms of a brainstorm immediately, having experienced the same thing often enough. She turned to her friends.

"Okay, it looks like he is trying to figure something out. Don't disturb him, breaking a train of thought in such a situation could only cause problems."

Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Speaking from experience?"

Twilight grinned sheepishly and nodded. Behind them, Xaral kept on muttering to himself and Twilight could feel him gathering magic. She turned to see him concentrate deeply, a blue and red aura gathering around his horn.

"Eh Twilight, are ya sure this'll be alright? Don't want no fancy magic goin' haywire around here."

Twilight was about to respond when Xaral opened his eyes again.

"Exactly!"

The air around Xaral exploded with red and blue lightning, startling everypony in the snack bar and vaporizing the table they were sitting at. They could only watch in stunned silence while Xaral was doing his best 'mad scientist' impression. Somepony in the snack bar dropped a glass, and Xaral stopped his insane laughter and looked around. Twilight could see him look around at the devastation he wrought.

"Uhm, sorry?"

Silence reigned for several more seconds, then Applejack decided to speak her mind.

"Yer sorry? Ya just gave us the scare of our lives with yer dangerous fancy magic an' yer sorry? We coulda been hurt! Why I aughta-"

Twilight interrupted Applejack's tirade by stepping in front of her.

"Wait, give him a chance to explain himself."

Applejack stopped and looked at Twilight like he had lost her mind.

"Have ya lost yer mind Twilight? He could've hurt us!"

Twilight nodded.

"Yes, he could have, but he didn't. He also said he was sorry, that should count for something, right?"

Xaral was still standing behind the remains of the table, looking sheepishly. He looked at Applejack and sighed.

"I am terribly sorry for that, really. Nearly all Izzet mages, myself included, tend to get carried away when in the middle of a breakthrough. I kind of forgot my surroundings, and thereby jeopardized you. Well, it seems I'll have to find some kind of employment around here."

Applejack blinked at the last sentence.

"Why are ya concerned with work? Ya got ta apologize for destroyin' that table."

Xaral nodded.

"Exactly, I need to find someplace to work, so that I can pay for the table. I realize I no longer have the backing of my guild to help me out in such situations, so the logical conclusion is me finding a job. Besides, I need something to do while I'm here."

"That, makes sense, actually."

Everyone looked at Twilight, who shrugged.

"What? He already apologized to us for scaring us, and the best way to apologize to Boiling Oil is by paying for his table. Then there's the issue of him living in Ponyville, seeming that he won't be going back to Ravnica anytime soon."

Xaral nodded at this, then trotted over to Boiling Oil, who was standing a polite distance away from the group.

"Sir, I am terribly sorry for destroying your table. And scaring your customers. I will pay for the damage as soon as I am able to do so."

Boiling Oil cocked his head sideways.

"Why can't you pay now?"

"I am actually from another reality, and I have only just arrived here. I have no currency to speak of, nor a job to acquire such. So I hope that my apology is enough for now, along with my promise to make it up to you."

Boiling Oil's face turned sour.

"Do you think you're funny, pal? Do you really think I'd believe a story like that? The only reason that I haven't kicked your flank into the hospital is the fact that you're with Twilight and her friends."

Twilight hurried over, trying to salvage the situation. Meanwhile, Rainbow turned to Applejack.

"Ten bits say that this'll be a disaster."

Comments

[bjornicorn]

you over italicized

[Sandova Mirell]

2929101
Noticed it very quickly and fixerd it. Still thanks for the heads-up bro.

[bjornicorn]

2934258 No prob, I actually thought that I had lost a contact or something at first, but then my room mate looked at it and said "Why you reading slanted shit, bro?" and I facepalmed, hard

[ShatterCore]

AAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
I NEED more of this story, but it hasn't updated lately.

Please update soon