City of Guilds

The next five days went on with much event. Life in Ravnica was not much different from that of other big cities. Babs Seed and Midnight Edge spent time browsing the markets for interesting objects and souvenirs while Sunflower enjoyed the garden at the outpost. In the third day Riv joined the group and invited them to a dinner at a local bistro.

During their dinner Riv mentioned something that made Midnight Edge extremely glad, soon one of their friends would arrive, bringing much needed resources for the other planeswalkers. The mysterious friend was named just as Him and The Masked One, Babs Seed and Sunflower could not remember Midnight Edge mentioning that mysterious being before.

The next two days Sveta joined the group, guiding them through the most interesting places in Ravnica, places Midnight Edge often overlooked during his visits, preferring to explore the market district and the Undercity. The vampire often used her reputation to benefit her friends, something they often mentioned was not necessary, but she would not change her ways since generosity was the only selfless act she was used to.

The mysterious friend mentioned earlier by Riv arrived after the fifth day. His arrival seemed to be more a rumor than actual news, it was kept in secret for some reason. Many would consider the secrecy a mere absurd, but the mysterious benefactor preferred to keep the Dimir at a safe distance, making sure his activities and presence remained unseen until there was need to act publicly.

Midnight Edge was extremely excited to introduce his friend to Babs Seed and Sunflower, he considered his arrival a good sign and a way to finally explain where most of his resources came from. That mysterious benefactor was actually an important member in their group, while his activities among the group were often tacit and cautious, he provided them with important resources, and was probably the strongest planeswalker among them.

“Well, it is time for you to meet a very special friend of mine. He is a rather mysterious guy, but he is also quite nice. So. Are you coming?” The stallion spoke in a merry tone, his usual frown was replaced by an excited smile.

“If he's your friend count me in.” Babs Seed responded, her confidence grew stronger everyday, and it was notable in the way she acted. Meeting another planeswalker was part of the big adventure she expected during her stay in Ravnica.

“It would be nice if we knew his name first. I mean, you never mention him by name.” Sunflower was not as eager to meet another of Midnight Edge's strange friends, she was already having a hard time getting used to the residents at the outpost, in particular the unsettling vine covered skeleton and the talking insect.

“Oh. About that... We don't know his name. He just calls himself The Necromancer. He says revealing his name could make things harder for him. We don't mind, other than his name he keeps few secrets from us.”

“There's no way we are meeting some mysterious guy called The Necromancer. I mean, you know what a necromancer is right?” Sunflower was actually scared of the idea of meeting an actual necromancer, she already knew more death handlers than needed in her life. “Babs is not going either.”

“No way! I am going. Midnight wouldn't take me to dangerous places. It must be safe.”

“Well. Go if you want. I'm staying with Ulyana, she is the only one who doesn't seem to have ties with evil magic around us.” Sunflower reluctantly allowed Babs Seed to meet that mysterious necromancer, but she was actually too scared to join.

...

The Necromancer's residence was hidden within the Undercity, the only way yo access that location was through the outpost's basement, making sure only those tied to the outpost had access to that place. Some even assumed he was tied to the outpost in some way, even accusing him of damaging the foundations of the former Slesnya communal house to further his own goals. The true story was known by his friends, it was not so far from the rumor, but the motives were very different. He accidentally damaged the foundations while he collected fungal samples from them.

Midnight Edge guided Babs Seed through the Undercity, keeping her at safe distance from its most unsavory inhabitants. Every now and then they stumbled upon some Golgari Swarm members which gladly greeted the purple stallion and guaranteed their safety. Some of the guild members they met were actually very different from what Babs Seed expected could be considered as people, from walking sentient corpses to self aware mold. It was evident the Swarm was composed of very strange creatures, but most of them were actually harmless, preferring to go on with their lives as any other citizen would do.

“Exactly what kind of guy is your friend?” The filly inquired, expecting the mysterious man to be some sort of strange being.

“Well. Remember the void communicator and all those artifacts I carry?”

“Like the keys right?”

“Yes. He is the one who brings those things to our group. He was born in Anathel, the world where those artifacts were made. The inhabitants of that world combine magic with technology and mastered the creation of portals to connect different places, even separate planes.” Midnight Edge explained, notably impressed by the achievements of that civilization.

“So they could make a portal to Equestria. Right? I could visit many worlds if they did. That would be so cool!”

“Well. That is exactly why we must meet him.”

“Will he make a portal? Really?”

“No, not yet, but he is our middleman with Anathel. And there it is. His place!”

“That door on a wall? Are you sure? It looks a bit... plain.” Babs Seed was surprised by the simple look of the door. No signs, no windows, it did not look like a house.

“Look.” Midnight Edge placed his horn before the door, a faint glow came from it, revealing a green eye shaped symbol on the door. After revealing the location he knocked on the door.

The door opened almost immediately. The inside of the place was actually larger than it seemed. The fair sized chamber was actually the entrance hall, on the sides lied two doors which led to other rooms, the room was decorated with an assortment of objects, banners with signets of some of the ten guilds hanged on the walls, with a large Golgari banner hanging in the middle, the faint glow of mushrooms with different colors lit the whole room, a large throne stood in the middle, with a large table in front of it, it's back side aiming at the door.

“Come in my friend. I expected your arrival.” The mysterious voice sounded almost spectral, the whole atmosphere seemed to be made to cause awe on the visitors.

“Don't worry Babs. He is a bit of a showman.” Midnight Edge smiled at the filly, who walked in without hesitation.

The door locked behind the ponies, as soon as it locked the throne turned making a loud noise as it moved on the floor. A medium sized male humanoid figure clad in a green coat and black clothes sat on the throne. His hands displayed a pale green color, his face was covered by an avian shaped mask, a plague doctor mask to be more precise, with long brown hair flowing from the head adorned by a brownish yellow wizard hat. “Welcome Unicorn. You brought a friend, a rather young one. I am glad to see you after so long.”

“Necromancer. I want you to meet Babs Seed”

“Welcome little one. Are you by any chance related to...” Before he continued, the mysterious pale figure noticed the rubica hair clip on Babs Seed's mane. He recognized the hair clip, that filly was not just any filly, she was important. “I see. So you are the one. Unicorn, I did not expect you to pick such a young one. I actually expected you would fall in love with The Nurse.”

“How did he know?” Babs Seed was surprised by the Necromancer's statement. She did not expect him to find out so easily.

“I know everything. I knew of your arrival long before you were here. Of course I would find out.” The Necromancer spoke with a serious tone, there was a wide grin behind the mask.

“He just saw the hair clip. Quit the show dude. Take off that mask and stop pretending you are an ominous mage.” The stallion spoke, mocking his friend.

“Oh my friend. I can not do that. I just acquired this mask, and so I must wear it.” His voice was almost a whisper. The Necromancer intentionally kept his speech and behavior to match the style of the mask. “Besides, I am more surprised than any of you. I seriously thought that execution traumatized you so much you would never engage in love relationships with those younger than you. Yet you date a child. I am glad I was mistaken, love should never be obstructed.”

“Yup. He told me about that. But I made sure he got over it.” Babs Seed spoke with a confident smile, she considered their love some sort of accomplishment, an act of defiance to some extent. “We'll marry when I grow up!”

“It is a long story. But yeah, Babs and I are really close. That is why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Is that so? You should be cautious. She is young, the Azorius might not take it lightly. You should be out of their jurisdiction, but they would be glad to outlaw your relationship under a technicality.”

“I know. I hate those guys. Well, let us talk about what I intended to ask. Shall we?”

“Of course. I knew our current conversation would not be as casual. Otherwise there would be food. This must be rather serious.”

“I need a portal connecting the Coalition nexus and Equestria.” The stallion uttered his demand, he knew his friend might refuse to comply, but it was worth trying.

“I can not do that yet. I must talk to your leaders first and then inform the Coalition. Did you give the void communicator to your leaders? That could hasten the process.”

“He didn't. I have that flower thingy. He said your people make them.” Babs Seed responded, expecting the mysterious man would understand the motivation behind Midnight Edge's actions.

“I see your devotion Unicorn. You were meant to give that communicator to someone important. It is logical there would be no one as important as this little filly for you now.” The pale man seemed glad with the results.

“Could you at least connect Equestria to the Utvhal market? That does not require authorization from the Coalition.” The stallion tried to at least get closer to his goal.

“I am afraid I can not. Not yet. I must have an audience with your leaders first. Your highest ranked leader. Her name was Celestia, right? She must allow me to place the portal first. I can not just place a portal without warning the local population. I assume you require that portal because you have found your place now.”

“Is there another way? I think this is very important for Midnight.” Babs Seed asked, attempting to improve her lover's chances of convincing the mysterious man.

“Well, Rubica...”

“Did you just call me Rubica?” The filly interrupted before the Necromancer could go on with his sentence. She was surprised at the fact that he did not mention her name, also realizing he never mentioned Midnight Edge by name at all.

“That means he likes you. He gives nicknames to everyone he likes.” The stallion explained, expecting Babs Seed would not be upset by his friend's strange behavior.

“I expect it will not cause you discomfort. I name my friends in unusual ways. It is rather amusing.”

“If that means you like me I think it's fine. I would prefer to be called Babs though.”

“We shall reach an agreement on how to address you later young one. For now I must answer your question. There is in fact another way. I could build a portal there. It is a small place we found in our travels. Our safe haven. I have set a few portals to specific locations. They are designed for private use however, which means there are rather strict safety measures. Would that suffice?”

“A portal to the Valley? It would not allow contact between our civilizations, but at least my family and friends could use it.” The stallion was satisfied with the offer. He did not even consider it an option, but it was good enough.

“Patience Unicorn. It will take time. Portals are not set overnight, I must make preparations first. It may take a few months, even years. I must visit your world, find a proper place, gather the components, prepare spells, and hire some artificers. We require advanced void technology.” The Necromancer informed his friend of the nuances of placing a portal.

“Fine. Now we may move on to more casual conversation. Could you take your mask off already?”

“I assume I could comply with that request for a few seconds.” The Necromancer took off his mask. Babs Seed expected to see some sort of monstrous face behind the mask, maybe a zombie like being or a threatening wizard. Instead she saw an almost normal human like face. The Necromancer's face was that of a young man, his skin had the same pale green tint, a slightly long and pointy nose laid close to two green eyes resembling those of a dragon, his thin lips shared the same pale tone and were shaped in a grin, the most unusual traits were his pointy ears and two patches of green scales where sideburns would be.

“You're half as ugly as I imagined.” Babs Seed spoke in a humorous tone.

“Give me a break! My wife says my eyes are just perfect!” The Necromancer changed his tone as soon as he took the mask off. Now he seemed more like a young man, not as casual as Riv, yet still more casual than Midnight Edge.

“And Babs thinks I am smart and interesting. Love blinds us to facts. I think you were better with that mask on.” Midnight Edge went on with the teasing.

The once mysterious and ominous Necromancer turned out to be just another adventurous planeswalker, as the conversation went on Babs Seed noticed Midnight Edge was the serious and normal one in the group, which was further proven by The Necromancer placing another mask on his face and altering his behavior to match the mood and style of the mask.

...

After a few hours of conversation and a meal, Babs Seed and Midnight Edge left The Necromancer's den. In the end Babs Seed managed to convince The Necromancer of addressing her by her name, however instead of preventing him from using nicknames on her, he began to alternate between her name and the nickname he selected based on her hair clip. It was clear The Necromancer was the weird one in the group.

“Your friend is a bit crazy. Don't you think so?”

“Crazy? He is totally insane! Well, he pretends to be. He is actually pretty much normal, but he pretends to be even weirder. And his wife is just like him. I met her only once, they are matching pieces of insanity, and she keeps her name in secret too. She told me they keep their name in secret because they are public figures in Anathel.” Midnight Edge explained.

“So they hide their identities because they are celebrities? It makes sense. I wouldn't like to have fans following me everywhere I go.”

“That is what they say. But I think they just do that for their amusement.”

“I bet we'll do silly things together too. We'll do many things together.” Babs Seed embraced her lover. They remained close to each other on their way back.

That night Babs Seed pondered on The Necromancer's words. She knew Midnight Edge gave her the void communicator because she was important for him, even though he was meant to give it to a princess, yet still The Necromancer made her realize how important they were for each other. It was evident Midnight Edge was commanded by The Necromancer to bring that void communicator to a princess, and Midnight Edge willingly neglected his task for her. He was willing to sacrifice everything for her, and the feeling was reciprocal. Meeting his friends just proved her how close they were to each other. That night Babs Seed had a dream about their wedding, a dream she expected would be a premonition.

...