City of Guilds

Sveta stood before the broken creature, his dead body covered in blood still on the same place where he spoke his last words. Everyone was looking at her, wondering how she would handle the loss of a friend.

“I shall stay here for a while.” The vampire spoke with sadness in her voice. “I need time to bring him back.”

“Wait! You mean you will revive him?” Sunflower spoke in disbelief.

“It's rather easy with thrulls, they are made from lifeless bodies.” Sveta approached the corpse of her servant and caressed his masked face. “Be patient my friend, I will heal you.”

Without any delay the Orzhov noble commanded one of her guards to bring everything she needed from her residence, including her other thrull servants.

...

Midnight Edge and Babs Seed were finally alone. The stallion was upset, something troubled him ever since the battle ended.

“What were you thinking? You should not have been there!” He spoke with anger in his voice.

“I couldn't just stay put and do nothing.”

“You placed yourself in harm's way. That thing could have killed you!”

“I had to...” Babs Seed spoke, Midnight Edge placed his hoof on her mouth.

“You should not. You could have died. I wouldn't be able to bear the weight of your death. The idea of bringing the news to your family, of being responsible of your demise, of losing you. If you died, the loss would be too great.”

“How do you think I would feel if you died? You're asking me to sit and wait to find out you died! You were losing. You'd be dead if I stayed!” Babs Seed held back her tears, she understood her lover's concern, but she felt the same way, inaction was not an option. “And what about our friends? What about Sveta? I couldn't let them hurt her!”

“I can't let you do this. You are not just any companion, and you are too young. You are a filly!”

“After all we have gone through I'm not just a filly. After what happened at the barn I am not even sure I'm a filly anymore!”

“That is exactly why I could not bear the weight of losing you. You are not just any filly, not just any companion. No one could fill your place.” Midnight Edge faced one of his greatest fears, losing a loved one.

“I'm technically your wife! You can't say you want me to be part of your life and then keep me out of it!”

“But if I let you do that I...”

“We'd be together, no matter what. If we are gonna fall, we should fall together.” The filly interrupted him, there was determination in her eyes.

“I should have known I could not keep you out of it.” Midnight Edge spoke, accepting the fact that now she would be a part of his travels. “There is no other way, I will take caution and keep ourselves out of danger.”

“You can't just stop being the way you are for me. That's not what I want.”

“I will not. I will train you, teach you how to defend yourself. I might tone down the adventuring a bit too. I have a family now, I can not just go around acting carelessly anymore.”

“Isn't it funny.” Now both felt better, Babs Seed could feel it. “It was our first fight, and it wasn't as scary or sad as I though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Couples fight you know? It's normal.”

“I don't like that. I don't want to fight with you.”

“Well. What matters is what we argue about. This was important, normal couples fight because of serious thing. And nopony got hurt, it wasn't a bad thing.”

With their hearts at ease, the couple took their deserved rest. There was so much to do, but for the moment things were calm.

...

The door opened, The Necromancer waited on his decorated seat, his face not covered by any mask. His friend walked toward him.

“Unicorn, you seem worried.” The Necromancer spoke, standing up and approaching his friend. “Tell me the cause.”

“Babs put herself in danger.”

“I see. Do you want me to do something about it? Maybe send someone to erase her memories of...”

“No! Do not even dare to suggest such an atrocious act!” Midnight Edge displayed anger toward his friend. The idea of tampering with the mind of those he loved was an unthinkable act of depravity to him.

“We are like minded. I have gone through the same in the past. I think I know what you seek. Rubica needs a weapon.”

“I was thinking about training, but a weapon could be useful too. We need access to the imperial training grounds. A place where we could train with little to no risk.”

“I will prepare everything and also craft a weapon just for her. I might not be an artificer, but I learned enough from my sister to craft weapons, just nothing high tech.”

“You never mentioned your sister is an artificer.” The stallion was surprised, he remembered his own family.

“I did, you weren't there. But I do know your sister is an artificer too. You would be surprised to see how much we have in common.”

“Thanks for your help. Your generosity will be rewarded.”

“Don't worry. I would do anything for my favorite pony couple.” The Necromancer spoke truth, he had plans to not only provide them with weapons and a training location, but also guard them against an untimely death. Of course he kept that part in secret from their friends, for there was a price he had to pay for it, a price they might refuse to let him pay.

...

Sveta sat on an old bed, her eyes fixed on the window. Her loyal servant, now resurrected, stood next to her, his simple mind focused on listening to her.

“They came for me. They saved me. I felt uncertain regarding their loyalty and affection, but even those who once hated me were there.” The Orzhov noble spoke, tears rolling down her face.

“They had to.”

“No. They wanted to. My own guild hesitated when I needed their help, but these outsiders, they were willing to risk their lives for me. And you, were not because of you I would be dead.”

“It was my duty. It is in my nature.” Febah failed to realize his loyalty went beyond mere instinct, it was not much different for him anyway.

“My relatives were not even there. They refused to save me, they expected to gain something from my demise. My own blood had no interest in my safety.” Her heart was full of sorrow and anger, she felt abandoned by her own bloodline, she realized her title as head of the family only caused resentment in their crooked hearts. “I should make them pay, purge house Morozova from all the traitors... But I will not. I will not act the way they do.”

“What is your will then? What does my mistress intend to do?”

“After my parents abandoned their bodies to become spirits, I lost the only family I ever had. The Orzhov claim our guild is like another family to its members, but I see those words were mere deception. These strangers on the other hand, most of them have no blood ties, but they work together, they protect each other.” Sveta looked at the window again, then looked at the dress Ulyana gave her, the dress she wore after her arrival at the Outpost. It was a simple dress, a plain white dress with not much detail, something a peasant could afford, yet compared to her torn clothes, it looked as if made of the finest silk. Her torn Orzov clothes looked like a representation of her guild's corruption. “These strangers care about me, not because of my status or my power, but because they like me... They are my family now.”

...