City of Guilds

The next day began with a calm atmosphere, everyone at the outpost resulted pleased with the celebration, Sveta's message made it into their hearts. They understood it was not just any party, it was meant to celebrate her affection for them, even proving she began to grow fond of Yevgeny. The Orzhov noble was no longer a suspicious stranger, now she was a friend welcome at the outpost. Soon the Obzedat would be proven right.
The calm afternoon soon turned into a bitter moment when Ulyana heard a loud knock at the door. As she answered she found a small bloodied creature before her. Febah was badly wounded. The tormented creature was desperate, his wounds were severe, soon everyone gathered to hear his final words.
“You must save her... My mistress... My friend... Save Sveta... They took her... Please, don't let them hurt her!” The deformed creature spoke with his last breath, coughing blood between words, and then he succumbed to is wounds.
Everything went silent, everyone was shocked, they did not understand much of what Febah said. How could they save their friend not knowing where she was. Only The Necromancer seemed to act, he noticed a clue in the cause of Febah's demise, a metal cylinder with sharp projections in one of its ends, a crude and brutal projectile made by a depraved mind. The Necromancer pulled it causing further damage to the dead body.
“What are you doing? Leave the poor thing alone, show some respect for the dead!” Sunflower spoke in tears, gathering enough strength to react toward the Necromancer's cold act.
“This is our only hope to save them, to save Sveta and Febah. There is a message in this thing.” The necromancer opened the morbid container and a piece of parchment came out.
On one side the parchment had en image, advertising the Juri Revue, the most morbid show in all Ravnica. On the other was a crude message beckoning Midnight Edge and a map leading to the place where Sveta was kept starting at the Rakdos guild gate. They knew what was going on, a cultist kidnapped their friend expecting them to arrive to rescue her.
“Well. We know where she is now. Time to save our friend.” Babs Seed spoke, eager to fight to the bitter end to save the vampire from a certain doom.
“You must stay. This will nott be safe, we could die. Yevgeny, Riv, Necromancer, I will need your help.” Midnight Edge began to prepare a plan, they would fight to the bitter end.
“Only four, against a whole horde of Rakdos cultists. This is suicide!” The Necromancer knew how dangerous their quest was. “Let's get going! I'll bring the chips!” The masked mage continued, ready to kill as many as he could before going down.
“I can't put myself in danger, I'm just a rot farmer, and I'm married.” Yevgeny refused to join the fight, even though his skills were necessary for their success.
“You must go with them. They need your help. We both know you were not always just a rot farmer.” Ulyana compelled her husband to help.
“I promised I would not do that again, you made me promise not to kill again.”
“This is different, you must break your promise. We can't just sit here and let her die!
“I guess there's no other way. My blades shall make blood run again.” Yevgeny looked somber as he spoke, remembering a biter past long before Ulyana, the life of an assassin seeking to avenge the Swarm.
...
The four warriors departed ready to save Sveta or die trying. Their fate uncertain, four men waging war against a whole guild, at least that was what they feared. For all they knew they would face the depraved parun of the guild, Rakdos the Defiler himself. All they cared about was saving their friend, the one who trusted them and saw them as family.
At the outpost three maidens were left behind, an elven lady, a mare, and a filly, uncertain of the fate of their friends and family. They were uneasy, they wanted to act but did not know what to do. Babs Seed remembered the last time Midnight Edge placed his life on the line, she knew what to do.
“We can't just sit and wait! We must seek help, police, royal guard, there must be some authority we could speak to! Wait I know! Ulyana, ask your friends, my sis and I will go to ask the other guilds.” With those words Babs Seed left the outpost and began searching for the first Azorius officer she could find, Sunflower ran behind her.
It didn't take them long find an Azorius enforcer, in fact they were eager to meet the foreigners hoping to write laws to involve them in their jurisdiction. The enforcer was a tall blue skinned female, there was no hair on her head and she seemed slender, it was the first time Babs Seed saw a vedalken, but there was no time to be surprised.
The filly walked to the tall blue woman and spoke to her. “You're an Azorius right. We need your help.”
“What a strange creature we have here. I am pretty much sure we have laws against small horses speaking loudly to...”
Before the enforcer could go on Babs Seed interrupted her. “The skull guys kidnapped our friend! You must do something!”
“You mean the Rakdos? I am afraid I can't help you, but I will report the situation to the pertinent authorities, soon a law enforcement officer will handle your case.” The lady spoke in a calm tone, her bureaucratic mind refused to break protocol and start an assault on Rakdos domain without authorization.
“Well, move it then and do something! My friend is in danger!”
“I... I will inform the Boros Legion. They could handle this. Now be patient.” The enforcer walked away toward a Boros outpost, filling a report as she walked, she understood the severity of the situation but still felt coerced to follow the standard protocol by the vows she made.
“Babs... This is going nowhere. We should go back and wait.” Sunflower spoke with concern.
“No! We must find one of those guys in golden armor. They are from Sveta's guild, they can help her, they must help her!” The green eyed filly moved on to seek one of the gilded Orzhov soldiers.
...
“Ulyana, you have returned. What do you seek?” A Selesnya priestess spoke to the elven healer. It was evident she was uncomfortable with her presence yet felt no animosity to her.
“I need help. A friend of mine was kidnapped by those monstrous Rakdos cultists.”
“After all this time gone you come back to beg for help. How dare you? You reject your heritage, married a rot farmer, and then return to take from us. You should be ashamed!”
“I am not taking anything from you. I am asking you to save a life!”
“I will speak to our guild. They will decide what to do. But do not expect our help.”
“I no longer expect anything from you.” Ulyana left hoping Maat Selesnya would guide her words to the rest of her guild.
...
“Mister, we need your help.” The small pink haired pony spoke to a soldier in golden armor. “Are you listening? We need your help. Some skull guys kidnapped one of your friends.”
The armored man reacted when she mentioned his guild. “You claim they kidnapped an Orzhov? Who?”
“This vampire girl, Sveta Morozova. They took her, she's in danger.”
“Morozova. An important noble. But not my business, we need at least twice the amount requested as ransom.” The gilded soldier did not care much about the fate of house Morozova, in fact he could reap the benefits of her demise.
“Come on, she is just a child. At least tell her a white lie.” Another armored man spoke, his face obscured by his armor.
“What the buck is wrong with you! She's of your same guild! You can't let her die, she's your friend! Midnight told me you looked for each other in your guild. And she is my friend too!” Babs Seed attempted to convince the armored men, her reasoning attempted to appeal to their loyalty. “Don't you have any friends at all?”
Her words had an effect on the knights. They understood how important that Orzhov noble was to the filly before them. For the first time in decades they felt the need to help a total stranger. The bond they noticed reminded them of their own friendship. “There might be something we could do. But we will ask for a reward once she is safe.”
“Fine! Just do something!”
“Babs, let's go back to the outpost.” Sunflower held the filly as both walked on their way back. Uncertainty tormented their minds.
“That child is right. We should do something.” One of the gilded men spoke to his friend.
“Yes. Friends look out for each other.” The armored men remembered their friendship. They joined their guild together, technically selling themselves out of poverty. Ever since then it was just the two of them against the world, climbing the social ladder of their guild without much concern for others. But this time they were reminded of how important loyalty should be for their guild. They could not let someone else lose a friend, not this time.
...
The night covered the district with a mantle of darkness. Horrendous figures danced near large bonfires, breaking things, yelling, and flaying each other. The four warriors walked past the brutal hordes of demons and abominations slaying all in their path.
The Necromancer walked into the district wearing violet robes and a mask resembling a monstrous red face, on his right hand he held a large ancient sword while his left hand called forth entire armies of fungi, spirits, animated clay dolls, and other creatures, commanding them to fight on his behalf; Riv hurled fireballs and released thunder from his hands while his sharp claws slashed through their foes with cruel accuracy, his eyes displayed a violent bloodlust often concealed by his humorous behavior; Midnight Edge advanced slashing through the armies of demons with his sword, healing his allies and shielding them from harm with his spells as they advanced; Yevgeny moved unseen between enemy lines, silently killing as many as possible and causing distractions.
Even though they were able to push forward and slay many foes, the small army still remained outnumbered. Every bystander in the district soon became a foe to face, most of them were not even aware why the district was under attack, they just wanted to maim, torture, and murder the outsiders for fun. They could not push any further and were not able to bring a full genocide on the district, not to mention probably the enemy would find their behavior entertaining. An enemy without morale or fear could not be defeated so easily.
The Necromancer devised a plan which could allow them to advance even further. “I will handle them. Mushroom, Create an opening for the rest!” The masked man commanded Yevgeny while he and his small army of summoned beings stayed behind.
“I'm on it! Riv, Edge, let's get moving!” The three remaining warriors moved on leaving their friend behind.
...
Babs Seed searched for something in the room, any artifact left by Midnight Edge in case of an emergency. Soon she found something that could be of use, a black obsidian mirror resembling a pool of endless darkness. The filly held it before her and looked at it, expecting to find out its function.
The more she looked the darker the room became, eventually she found herself engulfed by a smoky darkness. Her heart was consumed by fear, but instead of trying to run she went further into the dark, determined to find something she felt was hidden there. The more she tried the more she saw, and finally reached it, a vision.
Before her was a familiar landscape, the undercity, Golgari territory. A vehicle buried under piles of filth, it was a device once used by the Izzet to explore the area in their search for the Implicit Maze. The more she looked at the abandoned object the more she knew about it, she understood how to use it, it was not difficult, even she could pilot the mizzium covered tank. The vision told her everything to do in order to command that vehicle as well as its origins, a support tank designed to send lightning at targets to power or damage them, it was meat to work as a mobile emergency power source, but in her hooves would turn into a weapon. The a whispering voice spoke to her as the vision faded. “It will work.”
She was back to the smoky darkness, now a strange figure with a mirror for a leg spoke to her. “Is this all you seek? I understand. Let your determination guide you little one.” After he spoke, Babs Seed found herself back in the room.
The filly ran down the stairs and called Ulyana and Sunflower. “Come on! I know what to do! We're going to the undercity!”
...
After a gruesome battle through enormous halls within the district the three warriors finally reached the location marked on the map. A large demon sat before them on a throne made of rubble and corpses, surrounded by an entourage of blood witches, lesser demons, ravers, and other depraved cultists who catered to his depraved whims.
“Where is our friend!” Midnight Edge yelled at the monstrous lord
The obscene horror laughed at him, his enormous reddish brown body stood tall before them, large arms with hands ending in sharp claws, muscular legs often used to crush smaller creatures for fun, two sharp horn like protrusions on his shoulders, four on his back close to small vestigial wings, an enormous head with a monstrous grinning face, sharp fangs, eyes like corrupted red flames, and three large black horns crowning it.
The giant roared and then spoke. “You arrived faster than I expected, I was hoping I could torture her a bit before we met. Minions, leave! I will handle our guests.”
“Where is she.” Riv spoke, his patience long gone, his body covered in blood.
“I have no use for you two. I want to talk to the unicorn. You may go for your friend if you want. That is of course, before my minions get bored and start playing with her. She is nearby.”
“Go! I will deal with this bastard.” Midnight Edge commanded his friends, hoping they could find her on time. Riv and Yevgeny left with no objection.
“Now we can talk.”
“Is that all you wanted? Talk? You didn't have to kidnap my friend to do that.”
“Oh. I could have taken you instead. But where's the fun in that? Maybe I should have taken that filly of yours.”
“What? What do you want with her?”
“Isn't that obvious? The Dimir spoke to me. I know deep inside you are just like me. You lay with that filly, with a child.”
“I don't think I get your point. Are you in love with a young one? We could talk that without this mess!”
“Love? All I love is defiling everything I can. And I know you understand the pleasure of defiling such a young and small thing. I want her. But I preferred to ask you to bring her, she will do anything you ask her.”
“And let you hurt her? Go fuck yourself!”
“Oh. You don't want to share. I see, we are so alike.”
“I am not like you. I love her. You understand nothing of love. I won't let you get close to her, no matter what.” Midnight Edge steeled his blade to fight the enormous tyrant before him.
“Well. I wanted to outdo Rakdos by screwing that filly, but I guess your corpse will do for now!” The demon charged at the green eyed stallion attempting to crush him to death. The stallion rushed to avoid th attack and slashed the beast in the back. The wound did not cause the desired result, the enormous horror groaned in pleasure as blood flowed down the large gash.
“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Midnight Edge leaped launching a fireball at the enormous creature. The monster responded by breathing his own flames out consuming the fire spell.
“Soon you'll find out!” The demon laughed as he prepared to strike again.
...