A Grand Tour, Part II
A Grand Tour, Part II
The Nineteenth Century: The Saga of Equestria
August 30, 1839
México City, México
The pink and white banner of Equestria fluttered in the breeze as Princess Twilight lead a procession of ponies down the streets of México City. The negotiations had been long, drawn out, and on more than one occasion, hurt more than pulling teeth, but after several public meetings, debates, votes, private meetings, and personal assurances, she finally had what she had come for - an agreement.
“Presenting: The Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Defense,” proclaimed President Bustamante, gesturing to an ornate table laid out, separating him from the pony princess. After waiting for Twilight to ascend to his level - as he was up a small flight of stairs - the President and Princess executed a well-rehearsed hand/hoof shake.
Still a little awkward, Twilight thought, desperately hoping her smile was not a grimace.
Bustamante sat on a plain, slightly plush red chair. Twilight sat down across him on a similarly simple, but plush red cushion. She never really liked chairs to begin with.
She looked down on the table. In front of her laid two copies of the Treaty.
The Treaty of Friendship and Harmony
Spanish Name: Tratado de Amistad y Defensa Mutua
The Government of the Centralist Republic of México and the Royal Council of the Principality of Equestria, knowledgeable of potential threats presented to them, and with an eye to the past history of cooperation between the Governments and injustices shared, have come to together to create this firm Treaty of Friendship.
Article I: It is hereby announced to the world that the two governments enter a firm agreement of friendship and understanding.
Article II: The Centralist Republic of México and the Principality of Equestria hereby agree to come to each other’s defense upon the call of the leadership of one of the nations.
Article III: Both governments pledge to never enable an act of aggression on the other, and further pledge to share all intelligence they acquire that pertains to the defense of the other.
Article IV: This Treaty shall, after being signed by the representatives of both nations, shall be sent to both governments for ratification. This shall occur within two years of the initial signing.
Twilight smiled again as she reached out with her magic and grabbed hold of a quill laying next to the Equestrian copy of the Treaty. After she dipped it in the ink, she signed it with as much flourish as she could muster.
Looking up, she saw the President finish signing the Spanish copy of the Treaty. The two then swapped their copies.
Spanish… was all Twilight was able to think as she looked over the paper in front of her. Despite having been in México City for over a month and a half, she had picked up only a couple words. Mostly pleasantries. Unfortunately, the tense negotiations had occupied most of her focus, though she did think it may help to learn it...
Identifying the place she had to sign, Twilight dipped her quill back into the ink, and signed again.
Looking up, she saw the President had already finished. They traded copies of the Treaty again, and Twilight slowly folded her Equestrian copy into near perfect thirds, then put it into an envelope that had a light pink and midnight blue ribbon on the left hoof side. The envelope had, in lieu of an address, a message written on it:
Deliver to The Royal Council
Official State Business
Opening this message without authorization is a crime under Equestrian law.
She sealed the envelope with a small wax State Seal. The new design, introduced during Equestria’s westernization, consisted of a simple image of a sun that had a crescent moon eclipsing the right part of the sun. It was the same as the device on the pink and white Equestrian flag.
“Your Excellency, I will present this Treaty to the Royal Council at my earliest opportunity,” Twilight said.
“Thank you, Your Serene Majesty.”
September 1, 1839
Canterlot, Equestria
Now, every Princess of Equestria had a personal office. This office often said a lot about the Princess that resided in it. Princess Celestia’s office, for example, had a window that offered a great view of the dawn sun. Sometimes, she would simply stop whatever she was doing just to watch the rising sun. Not often, but occasionally.
Contrast with Princess Twilight. Twilight’s office also had a window - not that anypony walking into the office would know that. Now, her office window offered a majestic view of Canterlot - especially in the evening, when the sun turned the white marble into beautiful shades red. However...Twilight, always the single-minded scholar, had placed a simply massive dark brown colored bookshelf in front of it. When the other Princesses saw that, they rolled their eyes and thought, Well, that’s Twilight for you. What can you do?
As for Princess Luna’s office, well, it fit quite well for her. There were no wall windows in her office. Instead, she had what one may have called a moonroof, perfect for enjoying the night tapestry.
Aside from window, the Princess had opted for a darker color scheme, as one may have expected. Navy and dark blues were dominate, though there were hints of bright pink every here and there. The furniture, most notably a large, solid oak desk, was also dark, almost black.
Sometimes it is way too hard to see in here, thought the Princess in question.
She lit another candle on her desk with her magic, bringing the count to five. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she squinted at the paper in front of her.
3 A.M? I remember when I was completely nocturnal...but how things have changed…
Now no Princess is nocturnal, because they hardly ever slept!
The paper in question was a finalized list of ponies being brought in the new Equestrian Special Air Operations Division, along with a budget estimate.
Seven hundred thousand bits, huh? thought Luna, holding her head in her hooves. More money requests…
After a second of thought, she stamped the page with the State Seal. Unlike the seal that Twilight had used, Luna’s version was an ink seal, and at least two times larger. Twilight’s was designed to seal envelopes, Luna’s was designed to indicate government approval.
Moving to the next document, Luna saw an update to the status of the Equestrian Navy. Back in 1836, the Council had ordered the construction of four ships in the style of the ERV Equestria - a style that had come to be known as Harmony-class cruisers.
Equestria had ditched the name of “man-o-war,” as it was too...aggressive for them.
Not that there was any actual difference between the world’s man-o-wars and Equestria’s cruisers.
Good to see that the last three cruisers finished, thought Luna. Celestia had one, the ERV Friendship rushed so she could take it to Europe. Can’t have a Princess in a transport ship!
But we can’t just have cruisers. They’re powerful, but slow and need cover against faster craft.
Equestria had already built a couple smaller ships, with lower water displacement and higher speeds. They referred to them as “escorts.”
We’ll need to cover the cruisers with more escorts to protect them and screen out fast opponents.
Luna tapped her snout, thinking more: I can’t just order the shipyards to start building, that requires approval of the Council. However, I can order the government to start stockpiling of the relevant resources. Even if the Royal Council does not see my way, there is nearly unlimited uses for wood, rope, tar, and the other materials. We can use them for something else, if it comes to that. And if they adopt my idea, it will save us a lot of time if we already have the materials on hoof.
Nodding to herself, Luna pulled out a General Material Acquisition Order, along with a Budget Authorization Form, from a drawer in her desk and started filling it out.
Lots of paperwork…
The burden of leadership never ends, she snickered to herself.
Suddenly, a flame appeared just off to her left.
She blinked a couple times, her eyes burning for a second as they tried to adjust to the abrupt change in the light.
Dragon-fire message.
Reaching out with her magic, she grabbed hold of the scroll that had appeared.
Breaking the seal, she unrolled it and read the brief message:
Your Serene Majesty,
We need you in the Township of Salt Lick City, on the American border, as soon as possible.
Provincial Magistrate of Salt Lick City
“Guard!” she called.
The door opened, as the Guardpony assigned to her for the night entered the room.
“Your Serene Majesty? How may I help you?”
“I’m heading to Salt Lick City. Since the other Princesses aren’t here, I need you to scramble the Pegasi escort. I want them ready to go in half an hour.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” replied the Guard, snapping a salute.
“Very well then, thank you,” said Luna, putting away the form for now and standing up.
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So nice to see this again.
9566273
It's good to be back!
Glad to see this up, as much as I... disagree with America's portrayal. This story is very interesting.
yesyesyesyes
9566310
good to see you back y where u gone so long? after this story is done have you thought of doing a stellaris story?
9566570
Don't worry. The USA is not having the best impression now, but nobody in this story are saints. I think that will be clear in a chapter or two...
9566963
Life is painful, and college prevented me from doing anything on this story for a while. Don't know about Stellaris, but I have toyed with a few long-term ideas for this story. We will see what the future holds...
Just an FYI, I basically have the general outline to the 1890's covered, and I have a handful of ideas going into 1930 or later.
9566639
Glad you're enjoying!
Nice to see you back again.
The Kingdom of Equestria 'joining up' with the Centrist Republic of Mexico is an interesting development, though I wonder how long it will last if President Bustamante is sent into exile again as in OT,
Also for some strange reason I got a feeling that the new Republic of Texas has something to do with whatever is happening in Salt Lick City.
Hope you are doing alright to.
9567414
wow. school sucks huh? I remember that my prom being so bad that the guys spent much of their time watching hockey.....granted it was the flames vs.....some other team that I forgot about due to the fact that the flames opponents were redundant
It's great to see this updated and as well to see that Equestria has a new ally. It's honestly neat to see other powers in play on the American continents and I wonder if this will mean that the USA in this timeline won't be the 'biggest' be end all power in the Americas or at least just have stronger competition that could given them a fight if push came to shove. Equestria still has air superiority and that won't be challenged for a good century. (Even early planes wouldn't be a good match up. It'd probably won't be till the Second World War timeframe that they would get better if they get invented the same way in this timeline.) Then again, magic and weather manipulation would make a conquest of the nation tragic unless it's a blitzkrieg sort of war.
9566570
America was pushy at this point in time. They've become independent. They won two wars with Britain, a world power. (Well 'won' is a strong word for the second war but they treat it as a victory.) And manifest Destiny was something on the American minds. US americans wanted to be a country from shore to shining shore, which is why a war with Mexico was always an inevitability. Just ponders whether they will try this time as in this timeline, Equestria has a good portion of what was Mexico in our timeline.
Ah, nice to see this updated once more.
Hmm, Twilight is still in México by September? Hopefully she stays to see the actual Independence anniversary. It's true that's not until the 16th and I wouldn't know if Twilight doesn't have anything else to do "officially" before departing. Which would be a shame if she misses out by leaving so close to the date... but well, such is life if it happens.
9567519
I wouldn't worry about the treaty being invalidated. Since it's to the government, Bustamante being ousted means little. Specially since the Centralist Regime lasted until 1846, shortly after the Mexican-American War began OTL. Of course, nothing's set in stone right now. Even then, nothing says the new government wouldn't want to renew said contract. So long Manifest Destiny is breathing down their necks, they won't ignore that.
9568544
I guess I really can't argue with that though I would state that I'm sure there would be some factions and groups in Mexico at the time who would not look favorably on the treaty for one reason or another, though I can't list them fully. I would also say that if things go well for Mexico over the United States, that, least maybe farther down the road, this 'friendship' might not last forever if a stronger Mexico comes to being Equestria will be seen more as a competitor at most and a limitation at least to that ambition; though not right now.
9568873
I doubt said groups, if they exist, would be quite vocal after what the ponies did during the Pastry War. That alone already makes them better off than how other powers treated Mexico during the early to mid 19th century. Besides, at this point in time the US has already shown itself to be a threat, so any factions big enough to have their voice carry weight, won't look at the literal gift horse in the mouth. So to speak.
Sure, there's always the possibility the relationship can change, as much chance that it can endure. Though we'll just have to wait and see.
wonder who'd they side with in WW1
also next chapter when
9568895
Well as long as Equestria doesn't get too much involved in Mexican politics there really isn't much for either Liberals or Conservatives of the time to get upset about. The Conservatives would look at Equestria fondly as a fellow nation that followed conservative values of the day: belief in power of the nobility/elites (Princesses/Equestrian elites), uphold the social hierarchy, order, family, traditions, etc.. The Liberals would look at Equestria as a country to seek investment from and to help promote order and progress. Other then one side trying to seek Equestrian support for their cause, which no doubt there would be those sympathetic to their ideologies in Equestira, there really is nothing for them to hate about Equestrians.
Though if things continue politically as in OT politics at the end of the century will turn against the Equestrians. The rise of Porfirio Díaz, Fransisco Madero's "Effective Suffrage and No Reelection", the rise of Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa and the Mexican Revolution. No doubt if those same events happen Equestrians will be thrown in with the lot with other foreign nations and companies controlling Mexico.
9568930
As I said, we'll see. We're still far from even thinking if events of the second half of the century will even happen in a way we recognize. Though I know that there's a fair chance for lots of, as the terminology goes, "butterfly murder". Though again, that's for much later.
So cool to see this story being updated, after reading more about the 19th century, it feels quite nice to see this "what if" scenario being played out.
Best wishes.