A Brilliant Connection!

by Sandova Mirell

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Crossover, Human
Length: 7565

Izzet mage ends up in Equestria and dicovers new feelings.

Xaral Razek is a genius, as are most Izzet mages. He is also unstable and impulsive, again like most Izzet mages. He is, however, the only Izzet mage to ever cross the boundaries of reality, instead of just the planar boundaries.

Now stranded in this new reality he does what he does best: research, development and violent explosions! Nothing will stand in the way of progress! Not a strange new body, not the fascinating native that matches his intellect and definitely not something so trivial as unknown feelings.
.
.
.
.
Right?
~
Crossover with Magic: The Gathering, and a shipfic to boot.
You have been warned!

Published 2013-06-06 23:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-24 15:49:08 UTC

Oops!

Chapter 1: Oops

"And with the addition of these manamagnetohydraulics we can finally harness enough power to charge the portal."

Ral Zarek nodded at his colleague and urged him to continue.

"When we finally charge the portal I can synchronize it with your wavelength, and through it the wavelength of the multiverse. The Izzet League will be the first guild in millennia to actively start projects on other planes with more than just one gifted agent. Think of the research we can do, the energy we can harness!"

Xaral Razek's eyes went wide, a manic grin appearing on his face.

"The discoveries we'll make, the prodigies we can recruit. With this portal, progress will once again be unstoppable!"

The manic laughter soon followed, and Ral Zarek couldn't help but shake his head and smile at his colleague. Being a Planeswalker, a mage that can cross the planar boundaries, made him able to do exactly that. He was already doing those things on behalf of Niv Mizzet, their guildmaster.

But his friend's words were true, if this portal worked the Izzet could move far more freely across the planes than Ral Zarek could do himself. Ral knew Planeswalkers are exceedingly rare, only one in millions is ever born with the 'spark' that allows them to survive the Blind Eterneties and visit other worlds. Normal people would be obliterated the exact moment they arrived, if they were able to even get that far, that is. Xaral's portal would circumvent that problem altogether, and the possibilities were indeed endless, if the machine worked.

"So, do you have the beacon with you, right?"

Ral nodded and plugged the device into the mana condenser that was slung arcross his back. The small device clicked and whirred, and mana sparks started dancing across its surface. Ral stuck his thumb up at Xaral, who was already behind the controls of his portal.

"Okay Ral, I will recalculate your frequency the moment you Planeswalk away from here, and use that to lock in on your destination. As soon as I have established a connection I will fire up the portal and let its frequency resonate with yours. The resulting chronotemporal feedback should establish a connection between the portal and your destination, while simultaneously ripping holes in both planar boundaries and forming a tunnel between those holes. Then we should send some goblins through to verify its chronotemporal integrity, and make sure nothing explodes unnecessarily. We can weaponize the portal later, after we have finished testing it."

Ral didn't respond, for he needed his concentration. Planeswalking is never easy, even when you have made the trip countless times, there was still so much that needed attention or everything would go wrong. He took a deep breath and calculated the exact frequency he needed to separate the veil and cross over to the Blind Eternities, then he calculated the exact amount of mana and effort that would be needed to tear down the veil and cross it. Such difficult formulae usually covered mountainsides if written on paper. It took Ral exactly zero point thirty six seconds to do both calculate the parameters and expend the necessary resources, and he was literally gone in a flash.
~
"Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Celestia and one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria, looked at her friends and nodded.

"Of course it is! I have taken every possible outcome in account. There is only a zero point zero-two-six percent chance of something unexpected happening and interfering with the spell. Don't worry, I have this under control."

The other mares shared a worried glance. The last time their friend was so obsessed with a new spell she literally turned Ponyville upside down. It wasn't that they didn't trust her personally, but they certainly didn't trust another half-finished spell Twilight had finally 'completed'.

The purple unicorn did not share her friends' worries. Their efforts to dissuade her only made her more determined to do it correctly on the first try. Besides, this spell was only designed to open a window that revealed other realities. It didn't displace any energy, nor would it be able to resonate with the theorized temporal aether. This spell couldn't backfire in any way at all!

Twilight closed her eyes and re-calculated everything for the fourth time. Satisfied that her calculations were indeed correct she focused her mind and gathered her magic. Her horn began glowing with a purple aura, and soon the entire library was lit up by the brilliance of a spell going off.
~
Xaral noticed that one of the beacon receivers started flashing and hurried over to it. He quickly plugged his own mana rig into the controls and read the incoming frequency.

"But of course. This changes everything!"

Xaral's mind went into overdrive and he started gathering red and blue mana, slowly feeding it to the machine. When he had pumped enough mana into the receiver to vaporize a siege wurm he stopped. The device was now crackling with red and blue lightning, the flashes reflecting against the polished brass of the portal.

Xaral moved over to the controls and adjusted the outgoing frequency to meet the incoming frequency transmitted from another plane. When the frequencies finally aligned a slight hum could be felt in the air, as if the air itself was charged with energy. Xaral moved over to the portal and put his hand on a red lever.

"Okay Xaral, now or never. A new age for the Izzet is about to begin."

He pulled the lever.

Nothing happened.

Confused, Xaral set the lever back into its original position, then slammed it down again.

Nothing.

"Grah! Why isn't it working!"

He went back to the controls and grabbed a cable from under the console, then rammed it into his personal mana rig and waited. Scowling, he concluded he still did not have enough energy to power the portal. He took a crystal from his pocked and willed some blue mana into it.

"Overseer Xar, send some workers over to the basement and divert more power to the portal room. We need more power."

The crystal was silent for a moment, then a slightly squeaky voice replied.

"They're on their way now boss, and the power will be diverted as soon as the cables are installed."

The goblins arrived soon after, and overseer Xar walked up to Xaral.

"How much power do you need boss?"

"More."

The stocky goblin nodded and turned to his crew.

"All right, get those cables plugged there, there and there. You, you and you get the extra generators working."

He turned back to Xaral.

"Don't worry boss, we'll pump in enough energy to level a block if needed."

Xaral smiled, that much power would indeed be more than enough. He went back to the controls and started recalibrating to adjust for the massive increase in energy the portal was about to recieve.

Suddenly the receiver started smoking, then exploded in a small shower of sparks. Xaral hurried to the panel it had been plugged in and assessed the damage.

"Blast! How is this possible? The receiver runs on a separate power grid, it shouldn't be in any danger of overloading. Unless,"

Xaral quickly grabbed one of the now loose cables and got it into his mana rig. After a quick survey he concluded that some outside force had overloaded the device. He turned around, his face serious.

"Everybody out! The device has become extremely unstable. I need all irreplaceable personnel to get out of here. Anyone that wishes to stay has to accept the chance of getting vaporized. Am I clear?"

Nearly half of the goblins had already ran after the first sentence, but Xar and a handful of veteran engineers and electromancers stayed behind.

"Boss, what about you?"

Xaral gave his subordinate a manic grin, before turning back to the controls.

"I will see this experiment through, this date is too valuable to be given up so easily. Besides, there's no way we can outrun the explosion if the portal overloads completely. You said it yourself, we can level a city block with this amount of power. Are the shields still online? I'd like to keep the possible blast contained to the building, if possible."

Xar nodded, then turned to his loyal subordinates.

"Okay, get those shields erected. I will oversee the final stages of the experiment along with boss Razek. Progress and determination!"

He gave his subordinates a salute before turning to Xaral. The mage in question was busy keeping the frequency of the machine under control.

"Any way I can help you, boss?"

Xaral looked up from his work and nodded grimly.

"Keep the power running, we might still pull this off."

Xar turned around immediately and ran to the generator room. Xaral went back to his task while mana-charged sparks danced around him. He quickly found the frequency that was last recorded and reestablished the resonance. He then moved to pull the lever when a massive surge of energy literally exploded from the portal, singing the floor in some places and evaporating equipment or goblin maintenance workers at others.

Xaral saw he needed to move very quickly, or the whole building would go up in a most spectacular fashion, and he with it. But there was one thing more important than completing the experiment and surviving it, and that was recording it. Xaral quickly grabbed another speechstone and made contact with the Firemind.

"Oh great Niv-Mizzet, I send you the live recordings of my labor in case I might not be around to record its conclusion. For the sake of progress, I gladly give my life if the great Niv-Mizzet wishes it."

The speechstone glowed a fiery red, and Xaral could feel the attention of the great dragon on him.

"Very well, let us see the fruits of your labor."

Xaral plugged the speechstone into his mana rig and focused on the task at hand. Sparks were flying everywhere now, and sometimes a great arc of lightning would evaporate something around the machine. Xaral gritted his teeth and ran towards the machine, using his gauntleted right hand to act as a lightning rod. When he reached the lever his mana rig was close to overloading as well because of all the lightning it had absorbed. Xaral grabbed the lever and slammed it down.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment, then a slow but steady pressure seemed to build up in the room. The portal's edges began glowing, and the barrier runes across its surface shorted out at once. Raw power then coursed through the entire machine, and Xaral knew that he'd lost any hope of surviving. Laughing maniacally he grabbed a cable from his overloading mana rig and jammed it into another outlet. Xaral then stepped back a bit and raised his gauntlet high, the guild's signet burning with energy, and screamed the invocation inscribed on the portal's surface.

A tremendous amount of energy exploded from everywhere and coalesced around Xaral's raised gauntlet. A terrible screeching noise could be heard just before everything went white.
~
Twilight's eyes widened as she realized something had gone wrong. The spell's frequency had changed suddenly, and she could feel a terrible amount of energy building up somewhere in the aether. She quickly came to the conclusion that the spell was not reacting as it should, and it would have explosive results from the feel of it. She knew there was no time to get her friends out, so she did the next best thing. She teleported herself to the edge of the Everfree Forest and hoped for the best.

The room's other occupants were startled by the sudden disappearance of their friend.

"Whoa, where'd Twilight go?"

"No idea sugarcube, but I reckon it's not good news."

Fluttershy squeaked.

"Oh no, what if there's something wrong?"

Rarity moved over to comfort her friend.

"Don't worry darling, I'm sure that Twilight can handle this problem. She probably forgot something trivial and overreacted. You know how she can be."

The others nodded, but none of them seemed very convinced. They had seen the look on Twilight's face, and it didn't bode well. Before anyone could voice their concern the entire village was illuminated by a very bright flash, followed by a boom that shattered every window in Ponyville. It took some time before everyone had recovered from shock, except for Fluttershy. Rarity trotted over to her friend and carefully woke her up. Rainbow Dash grunted and rubbed her eyes.

"Everypony okay? What was that just now?"

"I don't know. Ooh, maybe Twilight has discovered some new kind of fireworks? Or maybe she just reaaaaly wanted to do something loud and bright. Or maybe-"

Rainbow Dash interrupted the party pony by sticking a hoof in her mouth.

"Now's not the time, Pinkie. Twilight could be hurt!"

The pink pony's eyes widened, and her hair seemed to deflate a little.

"Dash is right, we need tah hurry up and find out where Twilight is."

Applejack took the lead and soon she and her friends were running through Ponyville. Ponies were put on the street, either cleaning up the mess or trying to look for the cause. The mares paid them no heed as they hurried towards the edge of the Everfree Forest, the only place their friend could have unleashed such a spell without hurting anyone else.

When they arrived they were met by the sight of a massive crater. I the middle of the crater they could see Twilight keeping some kind of shield up.

"Twilight! Are you okay?"

Twilight opened her eyes and turned around. She saw her friends running towards her and felt relieved. Whatever happened with her spell she hadn't hurt anypony, although the resulting explosion had produced a rather large crater. Her train of thought was interrupted by Pinkie tackling her to the ground.

"Agh, Pinkie. What are you doing?"

"I was sooooo worried. First you disappeared like 'poof'. Then everything got white and bright like the light in the fridge, and then there was this loud booom and we were like 'gasp!' and Fluttershy was like 'eep' and -"

"Easy there Pinkie. Give Twi some room."

Pinkie nodded and released Twilight. Only then they heard a groan behind them. They whirled around and saw a red unicorn lying behind them. In their concern for Twilight they had missed him completely!

"Oh dear, what happened to him?"

"It seems he was caught up in the blast. Quick, we must get him to the hospital immediately."

Twilight nodded and gathered energy. Then she, her friends and the unknown red unicorn vanished in a purple flash.
~
Xar stumbled back into the testing room, coughing and waving the smoke away. When he had stabilized the generators he had hurried back, only to see his employer vanish along with all the violent energies that were blasting the room apart the second before. Now he noticed that every piece of equipment was mangled, and there was no sign of his employer anywhere. Not even scorch marks on the floor.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

Author's Note

Hey everyone! I was making a character for a GURPS game with some friends when we decided we would play an 'Infinite Worlds' campaign. Which is basically an adventure that consists of hopping between every possible reality and timeline to keep the status quo intact. My character was a genuine Izzet mage, and we joked about how funny it would be if the party went to Equestria and this character met Twilight. The Idea wouldn't let me go and spawned this story. I hope you like the introduction.

This fic is just a funny idea I had. I might not update this very regularly(by which I mean even less than Morality), but I will do my best to continue the story if y'all like it.

Sandova out

Wake up feeling, red?

Chapter 2: Wake up feeling, red?

Xaral was in pain. This was to be expected, considering his experiment, but it still surprised him. It wasn't so much the pain as the fact that he could still feel. This meant that he was still alive! He could continue his research! After the local healers patched him up, of course.

"Hey, it seems he's regaining consciousness. Dash, could you get the nurse?"

Xaral heard hoofsteps leave the room. This meant that this Dash person was probably a centaur. He was brought to the local Selesnya temple, then. Although he could also be in a Simic hospital, considering the fact that they had all kinds of mutants running about. Xaral concluded it was probably the former, since the local temple was closer to the laboratory complex he worked in.

Xaral tried to open his eyes, but quickly closed them because of the bright light. Those life-churchers and their sunlight. Oh well, at least they knew their healing. He blinked a few times and saw he was in a pristine white room, harsh white light coming from slender lamps overhead. So he was in a Simic hospital after all. This room was too pristine, too impersonal to be a Selesnya temple. It also explained the smell of chemical disinfectants.

"Hey there, are you all right? You took a pretty nasty explosion point blank. Considering the force, you are lucky to have sustained relatively little damage."

Xaral blinked some more and tried to look at whoever was talking to him. The feminine voice came from his right, and he tried to turn his head.

"No, please don't try to move. Just lie back and wait for the nurse. We wouldn't want you to overexert yourself before the nurse can get a look at you."

Xaral stopped. That did seem reasonable. After all, he did get hit with the backlash from an extremely overcharged portal spell. He was lucky he was able to think, let alone move! He sighed, closed his eyes and tried to lie as relaxed as possible. Wait, if he was hit by such a spell, what happened to the laboratory complex? Did he succeed? He had to know. He tried to speak up, but it came out as a dry croak.

"Oh dear, you must be really dehydrated. Here, have some water."

He opened his eyes and saw a cup with a straw hovering in front of him, suspended by what seemed to be a purple aura. He was now certain he was in a Simic hospital, magic like telekinesis was usually reserved for blue mana, something the Selesnya did not use. He opened his mouth and the cup hovered closer so he could take a sip. There was something strange going on with his face, his mouth seemed a lot farther away from his face than he could remember. While drinking he mused that it must be the damage he sustained, screwing up his perception. After he finished the cup it floated away again, and Xaral could speak.

"Thank you miss. Please, could you tell me what happened at the laboratory? I only have memories of casting the spell, not the results. Has my experiment succeeded? Is the laboratory still standing? Did the portal work? At least tell me my colleagues have learned something from my work."

The woman next to him seemed, hesitant, when she answered him.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but I have no Idea what you're talking about. I was trying out an experimental spell I finished when it seemed to overload. I teleported myself to a safe location before the backlash could harm anypony, and when the smoke cleared me and my friends found you lying in the middle of the crater. It seems my spell wasn't the only thing that backfired."

Xaral's eyes went wide, and he turned his head to his companion, his current physical situation ignored.

"What do you mea-"

Beside him sat something he most certainly did not expect his companion to be. He was looking at an honest-to-Krokt unicorn, a purple one at that. Although unicorns still existed in Ravnica they were very rare, and they certainly didn't talk. He narrowed his eyed and studied her more closely. She was small, more like a pony than a horse. Her fur was lavender, and her mane was a deep indigo with a pink stripe through it. Her eyes were far larger than usual, and they sparkled with curiosity and concern. He concluded that she was just another Simic researcher that took her research to a new level.

"Are you okay? You just stopped mid-sentence, ponies only do that when they're surprised, or in pain. Oh my goodness! You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"Don't worry miss, your appearance surprised me, that's all. Now, could you tell me where on Ravnica we are? It seems my portal spell did work, somewhat. I'd like to return to my lab as soon as I'm healed, don't you have any teardrops in here?"

The unicorn looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ravnica? We're in Ponyville, next to Canterlot. Where in Equestria is Ravnica located? I have never heard of that place. I also don't understand how teardrops could help you, is it a name for a new kind of medicine?"

Xaral just lay there, stunned. Never heard of Ravnica? This could only mean one thing. His spell worked! He was on another plane, and it seemed unicorns were sentient species here. This changed everything! Xaral burst into ecstatic laughter, he couldn't help it. His portal actually worked! Izzet progress would skyrocket, all thanks to his invention!

"Uum, are you all right?"

The unicorn looked worriedly at him, but Xaral didn't care. He succeeded! Then a thought struck him, he had no way to get back. His portal had obviously sustained heavy damage, and there was no lingering portal opening from what he heard. He was stuck here until his peers rebuilt the portal and opened a way here, and that could take decades!

"What is all this commotion? I expected you to behave more responsibly, miss Sparkle."

Two more mares walked in. One was obviously the nurse, a white pony with a pink mane and a nurse's cap. The other one was a blue pegasus with rainbow-colored hair.

"Huh, don't see that every day."

The nurse looked at him.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's nothing. So, how bad is it?"

The nurse smiled.

"You got hit pretty badly, but your body seems accustomed to handling such powerful energies. Do you work at a weather station or something? Oh wait, you're an unicorn. Elemental magic, then."

Xaral blinked.

"Unicorn? What are you talking about? I'm a human, see."

He looked down and noticed a few things. One, his body was covered in red fur. Two, he wasn't wearing any clothes. Three, he.had.hooves!

"Fascinating! Not only have I crossed planar boundaries, I have also taken the form of the native species. I need more information. Miss nurse, could you perhaps help me?"

Everyone in the room was looking at him like he had lost his mind. The blue pegasus looked at the purple unicorn.

"Eehm, Twilight. I think your spell was a little too strong. You fried his brain or something."

Twilight, however, looked at Xaral with a curious expression.

"You said something about planar boundaries, does that mean you're not from this world?"

Xaral smiled and nodded.

"Exactly. I hail from the plane called Ravnica, and I am a member of the Izzet. One of the ten guilds that are in control. My work consists of researching new magics and technology to benefit Ravnica. My latest work was a portal that would allow one to cross the planar boundaries, and it seems it worked! Now it seems I'm stranded here, so I could just as well continue my research until I can either make another portal or my colleagues repair mine and find this plane. Either way, I'm stuck."

The other two mares seemed taken aback, but Twilight stepped closer, fascination clearly etched upon her features.

"This is amazing! Somepony from a completely different world! What is your magic like? Does it have to do anything with the strange device you were carrying? It seemed designed for something that's not a pony, considering the fact it had a five fingered gauntlet. But it must be yours, the sigil on the gauntlet matches your cutie mark."

Now it was Xaral's turn to look puzzled.

"Cutie mark? What might that be?"

Again, the other two mares seemed aghast, even Twilight gasped when she heard his answer.

"You really are from another world! A cutie mark is a mark that appears on a pony's flank when he or she discovers his or her special talent. Now that I think of it, what does yours indicate?"

Before Xaral could answer the nurse stepped forward.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this, interesting conversation, but this stallion is still a patient. I need to check up on him, you can all go to the waiting room."

Twilight froze, then seemed to shrink in embarrassment.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I will leave immediately."

She turned back to Xaral.

"Well, it seems I have to go. I guess I'll talk to you later. Oh dear, I don't even know your name."

Xaral chuckled, having forgotten about his situation as well. He didn't seem to be in as much pain as before, though, so he thought he'd speak with this interesting individual soon enough.

"My name is Xaral Razek, at your service."

"Pleased to meet you, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I guess I'll talk to you later, then."

She turned and left the room, followed by her blue friend. Xaral could hear the pagasus mutter before she left the room as well.

"Oh great, another egghead. Just what we needed."
~
Xaral left the hospital two hours later, with the nurse demanding he come back for a check-up two days later. Now standing in front of the hospital his situation had really sunken in, he was in another world. Not only that, he had a new body as well. It seems that the magic that made him change bodies also made him feel accustomed by it as if he had this body his entire life. It was absolutely fascinating! He wasn't conscious for three hour and he had already found so much thing he could research!

"Xaral, over here!"

Xaral looked around and saw Twilight standing across the street, along with five other ponies. Xaral recognized the blue pegasus from the hospital, but he had no idea who the other four mares were. He trotted over to them, trying to contain his enthusiasm a little. He saw that everyone was looking at him somewhat hesitantly, except for Twilight, who studied him with the same intensity every Izzet has when coming across something new.

"Hello Xaral, how are you feeling?"

"Pretty well, considering the power that had coursed through my body. Hah, I could've been atomized by that much power."

This brought him some astonished stares.

"Ah, where are my manners. My name is Xaral Razek, chief researcher of Izzet laboratory 56934. At your service."

The mares blinked, then Twilight stepped forward.

"You already know my name, so I'll let my friends introduce themselves."

The blue pegasus with the rainbow mane stepped forward.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria and future Wonderbolt. How're you doing?"

Xaral nodded at her.

"Pleased to meet you, Dash."

Next a pink pony practically bounced forward, getting so close that their faces nearly touched.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. Twilight told us you were some kind of alien. Is that true? Is that your alien device? *gasp* Are you going to steal our brains to do experiments? A-"

Twilight interrupted Pinkie by shoving her hoof into her mouth.

"Easy there, Pinkie. He just came out of the hospital, cut him some slack."

She turned to Xaral.

"Sorry about that, she's usually very energetic, especially when she meets somepony new."

Xaral blinked, then smiled at the pink pony in front of him.

"Pleased to meet you Pinkie, I'll answer your questions later. I have some of my own as well."

Pinkie smiled and bounced happily back to her friends. Next came a yellow pony with a hat.

"Hello partner, mah name is Applejack. Pleased ta meet ya."

She somehow grasped his hoof with hers and shook if firmly. Xaral's eyebrows rose, he really needed to know more about his new body. He nodded at Applejack, then stared at his own hoof. Was it some kind of force field? He couldn't wait to explore all mysteries of this new plane. He then noticed that everyone was staring at him. Oh yeah, he was in the middle of an introduction. He grinned sheepishly at the white unicorn that was standing in front of him with one eyebrow arched.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I was kind of lost in thought. I missed your introduction, I'm afraid"

"Don't worry about it darling. My name is Rarity, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She even made a small courtesy, Xaral was surprised. This unicorn might even fit in with Azorius or Orzhov politicians. The only pony left was a yellow pegasus, who seemed to try and hide behind her pink mane as much as possible. Xaral arched an eyebrow.

"And what might your name be, miss?"

The pegasus mumbled something so softly that Xaral had trouble hearing it.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you."

She tried to hide behind her mane even more, but Xaral could hear her this time.

"I'm Fluttershy."

Xaral sighed, he could never understand shy types. How could you learn new things with such an attitude? Oh well, she seemed like a nice person, erm pony. Xaral looked at each pony again.

"So, what are we going to do next? I must say that I've gotten a little hungry. Is there a restaurant somewhere close?"

Twilight nodded.

"Yeah, the Snack Corner is not far from here. We could also answer each other's questions. I, for one, would love to hear the story of how you got here. It must be a shocking story."

Xaral chuckled.

"Oh you have no idea."

Author's Note

Aah, chapter 2 is up and ready to be read. I hope you enoy it.

Sandova out

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."