"Well, well." Came the smug tones of the fat bast... The fat pony on the phone Otto called his father. "Yours was a number I was not expecting to see again. Did you miss your old dad, Otto?"
"Save it, Pluto." Otto snorted, tapping his hoof against the table of his train carriage impatiently as he spoke. "I'm calling in a professional capacity. It's Mayor Otto now. I'm on my way to Canterlot, to you'd best clear your schedule and ready me a meeting at Filliburtons."
"Oh, you always were a charming young colt." Pluto snorted. "What do you want, Mayor Otto?"
"Please, Pluto. I'm riding to Canterlot as we speak, and you're one of the largest weapon producers in Equestria. Changelings and rioters are running rampant in my city, and one of them nearly killed me. What do you THINK I want?"
"Ah..." Pluto chuckled on the phone. "It's like that, is it? You don't have to be rude, you know."
Otto ignored this. "My men need better weapons than they have. The equipment provided to me by Celestia for this purpose are ineffective and outdated. My mercs are a little better armed, but it's not going to be enough for what I have planned. You have weapons, I have money. Get a meeting arranged, and tell nobody about this call." With that, Otto hung up, angrily tossing his phone back onto the table with a thud, before magicking over a glass of cider to calm himself down with. It was going to be a long train ride...
Pluto Cratic: He looked like an older version of Otto himself, but otherwise, what a psychopathic, hateful excuse for a pony he was. Theo had already disowned and estranged himself from him entirely, but Otto? Otto was pragmatic. He'd remained, more or less, in his father's good books, and had been rewarded for his endurance: He was the family favorite, he was set to inherit Pluto's company when he died, and even before then, it was always useful to have a trustworthy ally in the weapons industry: Pluto had resented Princess Celestia ever since she refused to invade Yakyakistan; he'd projected to have made a fortune selling arms to Celestia's soldiers, and unoffically arming resistance movements in the invaded country itself. He held no loyalty to anything except money, and that was his ultimate downfall.
As Otto saw it: Money is all well and good, money and wealth were what built Canterlot and all its splendor in the first place. but Otto had always cared more about Power. Power was the mountain Canterlot was built into; it had stood for thousands of years before Canterlot was built, and would continue to stand thousands of years after Canterlot collapsed into the valleys below. Still, money had its uses, and it wasn't surprising that the two often went hoof in hoof...
Canterlot was a strange place; no matter how grim or unpleasant an occupation or facility was, it always managed to contain itself in a very pretty, very opulent building which fit into Canterlot's skyline perfectly. And so, it came as little surprise that Pluto had managed to make a weapons factory which looked nothing like a weapons on the exterior: No, instead, the factory on the outside looked deceptively like an old family blacksmith shop and house on the outside, albeit a HUGE one; it even had a quaint little sign above the door, of an anvil with a hammer.
The inside however was far more... Industrial. The outside was a thin veil for the foundries and the skunkworks contained therein, all of which overseen by a fairly comfortable office and board room on the upper floors, where Pluto had arranged to meet the Manehatten mayor in private. They shared no pleasantries, no affection, nothing to suggest they were father and son, or anything beyond two stallions sitting down to have a meeting.
"Hm..." He paused. "What happened to your face?"
Otto scowled, still visibly baring a rather dark black eye and bruising. "A pegasus threw a rock at me, damn thing put me in the hospital." welcome to Canterlot." He groaned. "I'm fine. Let's get this over with quickly... I hate this city. Whoever thought building a city on the side of a mountain was a good idea should be hanged."
The unicorn frowned, but conceded. "As you wish. Take a seat."
Otto refused. "I said I didn't want to waste time, Pluto. You know what I want, and you know I can pay for it. Can you deliver?"
"Of course I can deliver. Celestia's equipment is horrifically outdated, and we're losing money due to her refusal to grow her army. Her pacifism is going to get us all killed."
Otto scoffed. "Finally, something we agree on. Can you give me a demonstration of what you've got to offer?"
The older unicorn smirk a little. "Oh, certainly..."
He stepped out of the office, holding the door for Otto to follow, and they descended downstairs to a proving ground chamber in the factory. There, they found a number of ponies in dirty overalls. On tables and shelves were a large array of kit: Spears, batons, blades, and crossbows with what looked like large boxes attached to them.
"Right. So we all know the royal guards have conventional spears, made of steel. They're pretty heavy, and blunt pretty easily." Pluto started, one of the workers, a unicorn, picking up a shiny, silvery spear with his magic as he spoke. "Well, here I present to you out answer to reinventing the wheel. Titanium alloy spear, with serrated head. Far lighter than normal spears, far sharper, and will hurt a hell of a lot more when they poke through their foes. A steady hoof could potentially even throw these like javelins if all else fails..." He chuckled, trotting over to the batons. "But that's why I always have a plan B in mind." Picking up the baton, it shared the silvery colour, but had a small band at the bottom of the extended pole. "Titanium batons, fitted with an electrical stun pack. Through use of magic gemstones inside, you should find that these keep their charge for a very, very long time. One hit with this thing at full power will DEFINITELY incapacitate a foe... Just make sure they're not standing in a puddle when you do. Things will get pretty messy otherwise." Pluto took the batton with his magic and tossed it over to Otto, who caught it with similar telekinesis: It was incredibly light in his magic as he opened it up, hearing the slight buzz of the electricity: He took a swing, cutting through the air like a knife in butter. Yes, this would do nicely...
Next, Pluto showed Otto the crossbow which sat on the table: Made of dark wood and black titanium, the crossbow also featured a large case fitted to the bottom of the weapon's body, directly below the bolt, which was quite a thin, metal-shafted projectile with a fairly vicious looking head.
"Ah, this is something I'm especially proud of here." Pluto smirked, picking it up. "A repeating crossbow. The cartridge carries five of these bolts before needing to be reloaded, which is major improvement over needing to be reloaded after every shot. It's quite shocking that ordinary ponies can get a hold of the same level of crossbow as the military itself." He chuckled evilly. "Not anymore. The limbs of this crossbow are far stronger than conventional crossbow parts, and we can draw the bolt and its string far, far tighter than previous models. Getting shot with one of these will definitely be a confirmed kill... Especially since we'll also be providing you with higher quality ammunition than standard wooden and steel bolts. And, guess what, we even considered what would happen if one of your foes got their hooves on this stuff!" He turned to his men. "Hey! Get Bulwark out here!"
Bulwark was an extremely large earth pony, or at least it looked as such, for he was clad from head to hoof in heavy, black armour, studded with spikes, and completed with a full face helmet; the eyes of the helmet glowed green. He didn't walk out so much as he was wheeled out; he didn't speak or move even slightly: Initially, Otto assumed it was just a manikin, but no: The pony WAS actually breathing, but otherwise, he was seemingly completely frozen.
"Last year, we recovered some interesting equipment from the Crystal Empire. A suit of spiked armour, this armour. Sombrian. Sadly, our friend here was stupid enough to try it on once we brought it back home, and it turns out, King Sombra wasn't terribly interested in free will for his soldiers..." He coughed nervously. "The entire suit seems to have fused to what used to be a perfectly nice archaeologist called Walton Croft, and has turned him into a mindless drone. Unfortunately, he killed nearly everyone in his team once the magic on the suit took over, a relic of the old Equestrian-Crystal War we expect, before we found a way to subdue him."
Pluto showed him a glass case, containing a sinister black bracelet, specked with blood, upon a small cushion. "That bracelet has been what's allowed us to control and subdue our tank of a friend here. He's been completely catatonic without someone wearing that bracelet, but, well, the last pony who wore it found that it fused to their leg, and to get it off... Well... You see the specks the of bloods." Otto blinked, looking about, he noticed a rather displeased looking pony, with a metal prosthetic foreleg from the elbow down to the hoof, and quickly put the pieces together. "We're hoping that, with time, we can reverse engineer the magic in the armour, and produce our own without somepony having to be stuck wearing a bracelet like this."
Otto scoffed. "Is there any other problems with the bracelet, other than it being clingy?"
"Well..." Pluto frowned. "One of our researchers, Powder Keg, believes that there was a hierarchy of control here using magic. Sombra was perfectly happy to enslave ponies, so he believed that Sombra himself probably held some relic or another which held a slave-like control over everyone who wore the armour or the bracelets. The commonly agreed upon theory is that it would've been his crown. But, at the same time, Sombra has been dead for years, and nobody knows where his crown has gone."
Again, Otto scoffed. "I don't see the problem then. I want the bracelet."
Pluto gave him a look. "Don't be stupid, Otto. It's not going to make a great Hearts and Hooves Day present. Not unless you're into eternal bands and mind control."
"Sombra's GONE, there's nobody higher up now. And to have an obedient drone the size of a hulking tank sounds like a pretty nice replacement for my coward of a bodyguard right now."
"No. I won't do it. We're going to find a way to reverse engineer it, and make our own..." Pluto protested, but was quickly silenced as Otto's horn glowed, and he magicked into existence a VERY large bag of gold bits, which he dumped at Pluto's hooves. "The bracelet, you kit out my men, and I make you the richest pony in Manehatten. Your company will also have exclusive rights to produce our arms for as long as I'm mayor, and believe me, that's going to be a LONG time."
Pluto, for once, looked torn. He looked between his son, and the money, turning between the two as his mind battled. Eventually, he sighed. "No, Otto. I won't do it. I'm willing to agree to everything else, but I'm not giving you the bracelet."
Otto scowled, furious. He felt his eyes practically glowing with rage. He glared at Pluto, and the bracelet he refused him. Something, somewhere inside him suddenly clicked, and he looked down at the Alicorn Amulet which hung around his neck, seeing it suddenly shine far brighter than usual... Now it was closer to its kin, Otto realised: He had an idea. An arguably evil idea, but a brilliant idea regardless...
"Well..." Otto suddenly said, venom in his voice. "You could do that, but, well..." His horn glowed, and the amulet slipped out from under his shirt. "...I have this." hovering it in the air slightly, he showed it to Pluto.
"What?" Pluto's face looked aghast. "Is that..."
"...The Alicorn Amulet? The Sombrian artefact which augments a user's power beyond all measure?" Otto smirked. "Yes, yes it is, and, if my theory is correct..." He turned to Bulwark. "Soldier!" He barked, pointing at Pluto. "Apprehend that pony! Smash anypony who gets in your way!"
The armour-clad pony turned sharply to face Otto, before wordlessly marching towards Pluto.
"What are you doing?" Pluto backed up slightly. "Stop! Stop! Otto! What are you doing?!" Otto didn't answer, watching as Bulwark shoved aside one of the engineers. "Somepony stop him!"
Before they could grab a weapon to fight the attacking soldier, Otto engulfed the lot of them in his magic, lifting them up into the air. He fired spears at the ponies with the speed of bullets, his only failing was his aim: The spears narrowly missed their targets, burying themselves into the ground.
The ponies panicked. Some fled, while a young mare had the bright idea to run to the glass case and smash her way to the Officer's Bracelet. Before Otto could stop her, she'd grabbed it and snapped it shut about her own leg, wincing in pain as it locked and tightened around her foreleg.
"Stop it!" She screamed at the soldier, and he froze. The ponies breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Ha." Pluto scoffed. "That backfired for you, didn't it?"
"Did it?" Otto smiled. "What's that young mare's name? The one who apparently foiled my plan?"
"My names Sketchbook, you lunatic!" She shouted; Sketchbook was apparently quiet a feisty young unicorn of pale blue fur and a pearly white mane, her cutie mark, predictably, was a sketchbook and a pencil. She'd sat back on her haunches, her hoof trying in vain to force open the lock on the bracelet, so she might release herself from its grip; foolish filly, the amputee pony was a testament to the permanence of her situation, she was deluding herself by thinking otherwise.
"Thank you kindly." Otto smiled. "Now stand up." The mare squealed as suddenly her hoof froze and her legs forced her standing; she looked at the bracelet, and back at Otto, suddenly realising what just happened. "Good, now come here."
A terrified look was plastered on Sketchbook's face as her legs begun to move against her will, quickly trotting her over to stand before Otto.
"Please..." She whimpered. "Please don't do this. Whatever you're doing."
"I could've used that bracelet." He snorted. "A trap for a pony far more valuable than you, perhaps. Or for research, like your boss here. But no. Now I have you." He eyed her up. "...I could simply cut your leg off too and take back my bracelet..."
"That's MY bracelet, Otto!" Pluto protested, though he was quickly silenced once Otto brought a spearhead to his throat with his magic, close enough to make anypony fear for their lives.
"...Or, perhaps you can be useful to me. And I won't chop you up for now."
"Yes, yes of course." She begged. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't do that!"
"Yes, yes you will. I've proven that already." Otto responded. "As for YOU, father. I think you understand your position: You can take the money, as you have always done, or you can take my spear. Do we have an agreement?"
"This is madness!" Pluto protested. "This is slavery! You can't urgh!"
Otto pressed the spear slightly deeper into his father's throat, the sharp point breaking the skin, causing blood to dribble slightly from the wound it created: It wasn't a fatal injury, but it would be if it went any deeper.
"A simple nod will do." Otto hissed. Defeated, Pluto obeyed. "Good!" The spear pulled back, twirling a little in Otto's magic to shake off the loose drips of blood. "I think today's been very productive." He smiled as he skipped over to Bulwark. "Listen, Bulwark! From this point on, you will serve as my personal bodyguard, your job is to protect me and my friend Starlight Glimmer, otherwise, you will do exactly as I say, when I say it. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Bulwark spoke coldly, bowing.
"Very good. And you..." Otto turned to Sketchpad. "You shall work as my personal servant from now on. You will do exactly as I say, and you will not speak of this, or your curse, to anypony."
She trembled as she stood there. "Y-yes sir."
"In which case, we're done here." Otto snorted, turning to leave, the two ponies he'd 'recruited' following behind him. "I'll expect the first shipment of weapons by tomorrow!" He shouted to his father as he left...
Is the pony in your current avatar Otto Cratic?
6898755
Yes he is. I've not really got a ponysona of sorts yet, so he's the character I'm using.
Scetchbook and Bullwhark had better have those whatever curses those objects they're wearing have laced into them removed after Autocrat's- sorry I meant Otto Crat's defeat. As whith those shoes stuck on Goldenstreets's hooves.
More!
6907893
I'm not sure quite yet how I'm going to resolve the problem with Sketchbook and Bulwark yet, but really that IS a must: Paver's curse is pretty nasty, but with Bulwark, he's had all notions of free will and independent thought robbed from him. The out, I suppose, would lie in Sketchbook, as she, technically, outranks Bulwark, so could easily use that part of her enslavement to her advantage... Problem is, she can't simply use her position to make Bulwark attack Otto, since he outranks the pair of them. She's going to have to take another approach.
But hey! You got the play on words in Otto's name! Awesome! :D ...Oooh, boy, trying to redeem him is going to be HARD after all this. I mean, I can kinda hide a bit behind the fact the Alicorn Amulet has made him do a lot of things he probably wouldn't have done himself, but I'm really going to have to pull out something good in one of the future stories: I've actually changed my mind on the sequels, and am going back to splitting up The Manehatten Alicorn in two stories: The Manehatten Princess and The Manehatten Exile. The Manehatten Princess involves the alicorns, and their efforts to try to bring Manehatten back into the fold after Otto's civil war, and the Manehatten Exile is going to be about Otto and Starlight being banished from Equestria, and me, trying to start Otto down a redemption arc after he royally fucks up.
Sorry, that's a lot of text-dumping on you. Bone appetite.
6908191 I always thought that those helmets had a mind control spell built in and could only be taken off by the wearer, and only if he was ordered to by a superior officer. (King Sombra himself saying: "Take off your helmets, NOW!!!" would work perfectly on them. The bracelets would probably only be removable by someone wearing the alicorn amulet or King Sombra's magic. The Crystal heart could also dispell whatever dark magic enchantments that were cast on them if it was powered up.
6908664
Ah, well, I'm glad we agree on that bit about the helmets. I also kinda think the bracelets mentioned could probably be just powerful enough to have a similar effect (where an officer was to dismiss a soldier, for instance), and yeah: The fix for Sketchbook will just have to be Celestia sending her up north to T.C.E (The Crystal Empire) to have herself freed from her predicament. I wonder if it would even be a spell Cadence might have some knowledge of?
Her people and her country would still be living with the scars of the reign of King Sombra, and so they'd be constantly having to deal with cases of cursed bits of Sombrian relics popping up in their lands, much like how countries in mainland Europe occasionally come across unexploded bombs from the World Wars, or some places in Vietnam and other former warzones still have to deal with trying to disable minefields: Their equivalent would be discarded pieces of cursed armour and bracelets which were buried with dead Sombrian soldiers, later dug up by archeologists or unwitting folk and end up getting cursed because they didn't know about the effects such armour had on the wearer.
I am aware that it was a conflict from 1000 years ago, though: It'd probably be rare to have something like that happen, unless you were on one of the former battlefields between Equestrians and Sombra's army, but common enough that Princess Cadence would likely have to put some steps in case people ended up cursing themselves. It's not like it's just a case of "Help, I can't get this helmet/bracelet off!", those things were for soldiers, tasked with killing their enemies without mercy: Once someone ends up stuck in one of those things, the armour would probably drive them to resume their old, wartime purpose: The indiscriminate slaughter of Sombra's enemies.
In other words: You know! For kids!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clgfRkyGqrc
6909406 Wouldn't he have wanted to capture and enslave anyone he could and force that armor, or at least the helmet onto any soldiers that he could. Because suffering ends in death.
6911558
Probably, but that's easier said than done when you're in the middle of a battlefield. My logic is this: In the event of a normal battle, of course that probably would've happened, anypony who surrendered if the Equestrians were defeated would've been taken prisoner and likely enslaved, but a battle needs to have ended first: The last orders that helmeted soldier would've heard was likely "kill them all" or "attack the Equestrians" and so, returning to service a thousand years after the war has ended, finding all of your fellow soldiers and your CO's dead, the armour would've probably gone a bit rouge, trying to kill anyone in the area who isn't a Sombrian, and trying to find a commanding officer, which would likely mean that the drone would end up returning to The Crystal Empire eventually.
Or at least, that's the case I'm employing with Bulwark. I'm probably tarring all of the cases with the same brush here. But I don't necessarily see Sombra as cruel, per say, so much as he is totalitarian and a control freak to the extreme.
I know that in the S3 premier episodes, Sombra was referred to as this terrifying figure, and he probably would've been too. But, in the history of politics, a regime so dominating and controlling never lasted long if it was nothing but constant misery. Even the Nazis tried to ensure that the people they actually cared about had some degree of time to wind down, and evil as it might have been, a lot of those in the Hitler Youth were inner city kids who'd never had the chance to actually get out and see the countryside: For someone in that position, they'd see the benefits before the reality of the situation.
...And that's kinda what I'm employing here: Sombra was big, and scary, and evil, yes. But I do believe there would've been a section of the population that, to some degree or another, DID actually support, and thus enjoyed various benefits from, his reign.
But I digress: That has very little to do with helmets. Sorry, I ramble a bit. I don't see Sombra as sadistic, more simply a totalitarian control freak; and yes, under most circumstances, the Sombrians probably would've taken prisoners to enslave, but in most cases in the present, there's neither the resources, nor even the orders, for soldiers to make that happen, so they'd fall back on the last orders they knew they had been given.
6911947 Okay okay, whatever floats your boat.
6912460
Sorry. I really do ramble when I talk about my work... ^.^;
6915866 I ramble a lot as well.
6915921
Fair enough.
6916293 I have Asperger's syndrome, so I can't always help it.
6916415
How interesting. I actually do as well. :) I'm not actually sure to what extent it affects me, compared to if I didn't have it, but that's a pretty daft thing to ponder anyway... Although, it probably does explain the rambling about Pony Politics. ^.^;
If the OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?
7447676
Otto Cratic, Kevin Spacey, hands down.
Paver Goldstreets... Hm, that's tougher... Manehatten is basically New York, and in that field, Sigourney Weaver kinda comes to mind if she was to be American voice acted. Then again, Paver's in her 20s, and Sigourney, for all her amazing acting and VA talent, might be a bit too old for that role... I'm not sure, I'm open to suggestions though!
Scopes. Scopes is tricky, I really don't know. He's a tough sort, but more of a rouge-build, so my first thought was the Rock, as the first name to come to my head, but no, just, no, the voice doesn't fit the body. Maybe Ryan Reynolds at a push, but I'm still not convinced. I'll think it about it though!
Zunbil Zoor's easy, he's Charles Dance, no doubt about it. Charles Dance all the way.
And, I think that's about it. I do hope I haven't missed anyone. But hey, thanks for the comment! Was very thought provoking. :)
This was really an entertaining and thought-provoking read.
Why is the only thing holding Equestria back from complete disaster the Mane6?
Perhaps we'll never know, and Autocratic and Theocratic will rule as dictator and church (nice names).
I'm sure you put a lot of thought into your work. I really enjoyed your background and character development.
Your background cleared up some things for me: namely zebra rhymes and Sombra's armies.
Your character interactions are much more reasonable and believable than most fics one sees. You handled the Otto/Starlight particularly well, actually giving a reason why they begin to do dirty things in drunken stupors in the night.
Only shortcoming is its incompletenes...
Keep up the awesome work!
7554856
Hey there, thanks for the comment! Please forgive my late reply, and do also accept my apologies for the lack of updates on this story in the first place. This is still my largest MLP related project so far, but I do try to keep to the policy of never abandoning a project I've started, with a few exceptions where my work was so amateurish that I decided just to scrap it and start over.
But, if I'm honest, a lot of this story built upon my own personal backlash again those very fanfics you're likely speaking of, as well as all the unspoken rules around OCs and CCs.
I love making pony names, it's a strange process, since you're pretty much deciding their entire future from birth, but it also puts a lot of information or references up front with just the name (Paver is an accidental example: Her name was me alluding to the idea of streets being paved with gold, but I discovered later on that Pavers is also a shoe brand here in the UK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavers_Shoes The irony was not lost on me, and it made me very happy when I found out about it. :D).
The biggest shtick for this is my own personal middle finger to the controversy around alicorn OCs and 'Mary Sues'. The fear over Mary Sues has held back me writing this story for nearly 2 years, since I wanted to make an alicorn OC. Eventually, I figured out that Mary Sue isn't a real thing, it's just poor criticism for bad writing, and I don't take kindly to either. Therefore, I wanted to make some characters, flesh out those characters, then go out of my way to one by one break all of those unwritten rules of Brony fanfiction writing: Alicorn OCs, OCxCC shipping, having a unicorn be as powerful as an alicorn, and also the recycling of familiar plot points from the canon... But, do it well. I also love Politics, and have studied it at university for the past three years.
As to the Mane 6... I'd ask the same thing, and the fact the question exists at all basically allowed for this whole story to happen: Nothing I've written here can't be backed up by the actions, or inaction, of the princesses, the army or the Wonderbolts. Hell, the S5 Finale pretty much added fuel to the fire for this problem, and if Otto had seen the events of that, it'd have only bolstered his resolve to act. If Celestia was a queen, if she was effective and able to protect her own realm; if Luna was mentally sound and had the experience of her sister; if her army wasn't so acclimatised with peacetime that they had become an ineffective fighting force; and if the Mane 6 weren't the only thing between Equestria and catastrophe... Well, Otto and his followers wouldn't need to exist.
Either way, thanks again for your patronage. :) As I said, I try to avoid ever abandoning a project, and I do still have work going on for this story, but... I'm a slow writer, and I'm distracted by both uni work, and a plethora of other projects I may have going on at any given time. Regardless, I will always endeavor to keep producing content, even if it is a slow growth.
7556623
Thanks for the reply. I do love reading.
I agree with your Mary Sue comment. Really all successful protagonists are 'Sues, just some are more overt and annoying than others.
That is funny that you found a shoe brand named Pavers after you named your character!
I think you're going about making your alicorns in a good manner. You aren't just jumping right in and saying, "Poof! MAGIC! ALICORN! yay. YEAH!" Your plot is really building up to the ascension climax.
Just a couple of questions:
Is Zunbil Zoor the same character as in your Thestral story?
Also, you mentioned redeeming Otto and Starlight. Will this story tie back in with Season 5 canon?
Thanks again for the reply! After all, it often is such a rare treat to converse with the author.
7560560
To answer your questions.
I actually have plans for two alicorn ascensions when all is said and done in the Manehatten series, and while the second is a bit more of your traditional 'poof, magic, profit!' fare, the way I plan to go about it is a set of 'Herculean Tasks' set for *spoilers* after the end of Otto's stint as mayor. Manehatten, to me, is on the same level of power as the Crystal Empire, which is a glorified city state, and Otto's agitation, whether he wins or not, is going to lead to Manehatten citizens demanding proper representation in the kingdom, and the authority that brings. It's like New York (well, obviously), but if New York decided that either it became the capital of the state of New York, or it would break away from the US, or at least NY, and become its own city state. Celestia will have to deal with that.
Indeed he is, you can consider Zun and Moon as something of a prequel to his place in The Manehatten Project, because at the end of the day, he's actually a bit of a jerk.
In fact, all of my stories are connected in their own ways: Otto's initial plan to curse Paver is inspired by the autobiography of a much older, much wiser Little Steppes, as her story takes place roughly 100 years or so before the events of the modern day MLP stuff.
Will their story tie into Season 5? In short: No. In longform: The Manehatten Project diverts from the canon of MLP around the midpoint of Season 5, around the time of Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep. From that point, my story effectively becomes its own timeline separate from the MLP canon. Things like Cutie Markless don't happen, for example. They do have redemption arcs though, Starlight is pretty soon in the story, but Otto's is a slow cook, and probably won't be a thing for quite a while. I do have more than one story planned for this series, though, so yeah, sequels. ;)