The Manehatten Project

by Ddraigtanto

Chapter Six: Shipping and Handling

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Otto was woken by Celestia's sun, her rays pouring though his living room windows, resting upon him, his blankets, and the one hoof of his back leg which had been having over the end of the sofa the whole night, tingling as the limb had gone dead in the night: It had been a long time since the white unicorn had had to sleep on sofa, and memories of how uncomfortable it was had long since passed. Just as he predicted, Otto awoke with the dull throb of pain in his head from his hangover; it was not an unfamiliar feeling for him to wake up in the mornings.

However, it took him but a few seconds to remember why he was on the sofa: Otto's home before he moved into the City Hall was a fairly small row house in the otherwise old and prosperous; it was a two-story house, with one bedroom, and one bathroom, an en-suite: He remembered his guest as he approached the door to his bedroom, hoping to use the bathroom, and finding Starlight sleeping in his bed. It was a good thing he'd slept downstairs, she was a snorer; then again, so was he.

He arrived just in time for the alarm clock to start ringing. He heard the unicorn instinctively swipe and it the alarm clock with her hoof, mumbling to herself, before sitting up and groaning: Yep, Otto recognized the face of a hungover pony when he saw it, and Starlight's head must be splitting at the moment with the look she gave that alarm clock, and then him.

"Oh, my head." She muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I'd forgotten that you'd brought me to your house last night..." She winced. "Did, did we...?"

"No, no we didn't. I slept on the sofa." Otto quickly responded, feeling a noticeable pain in his back which, hopefully, was quite apparent in his grimacing face. "...I'm paying for it now."

She scoffed. "Hmf... How much did I drink? It feels like another horn is going to break out the front of my forehead."

Otto chuckled. "Only as much as me, but enough for you to be more than a little suggestive."

Her eyes widened, and she fought off a blush. "Damn it."

"You'd had about as much as me, but I'm quite good at handling my liquor." Otto spoke as Starlight climbed out of bed, stretching out her legs with each step.

"Oh, good, so you got a clear head to see me make a fool out of myself?"

"No, no. You actually did a pretty good job keeping up with me." The stallion smiled. "And to be fair, another bottle or two, and my inhibitions would probably have gone out the window as well."

In the midst of her hangover, Starlight still managed to muster a coy smirk. "So you were tempted?"

"Of course. But I sense you're the kind of pony who'd kick me in the crotch the morning after if I took you up on it while under the influence." He held open the door for her. "A wise pony waits, and then offers to make breakfast for the mare the morning after... An ambitious pony starts contemplating the second date."

She scoffed. "Let's start with breakfast, and work our way up from there.

So, he took her back downstairs, made her breakfast, and brewed her some coffee to try and fight off the hangovers they both had. He wasn't amazing at cooking, but his meager efforts at porridge and toast did seem to impress her: He hadn't forgotten that, after years of eating whatever Ourtown was brave and poor fated enough to call 'food', one would make a pony grateful for literally anything else.

"I suppose, now the weekend's over, you're going back to plotting to take over the world?" Starlight asked between mouthfuls of breakfast, her eyes set on Otto from the other side of the dinner table.

"Oh, not quite the world, but yeah, it's Monday, and duty calls."

"And what about me? What am I supposed to do while you're off being mayor?" She didn't look impressed. "Where do I stand in your big plans? I know you want my magic, I want yours, that's a fair trade. But I'm a part of this now, and I wasn't drunk enough to miss seeing you ogling me last night."

Otto stopped eating, wiping his mouth with a napkin, and sighed. "Where do you want to be?"

"I want in." She answered. "Ever since I left Ourtown, I've been on the run, and I've not had anywhere consistent to stay. I'm sick of it. I was the mayor of my own town, the leader of my own movement of ponies who could've changed the face of Equestria forever! Now, I'm a vagrant laid low by Princess Twilight." She grit her teeth slightly. "So, I want in on your scheme. I want to rule over a city with you, I want to be called Grand Princess like you promised, I..." She faltered, looking away.

"What? What else is there?"

"I..." She snorted, looking uncomfortable, and a little bit annoyed at herself. "...I kinda like you." She finally said, quickly adding. "But don't milk it, alright!? I'm grateful that you took me to dinner last night, paid for the lot, and took the sofa so I could sleep in your bed..." Her frown softened. "It's been a long time since I slept in a bed that comfortable."

He chuckled. "Sounds like you missed a lot of home comforts in Ourtown..."

"Hey, quiet you!" She snorted. "It was on the back end of nowhere, but it was MY town. We don't ALL get to be mayor of Manehatten."

"Well, yeah, fair enough. It took a lot of work getting to this point."

"Oh, I'm sure." she replied. "But tell me now, what about me? Because I'm not leaving empty-hoofed."

Otto frowned, mulling over his thoughts with coffee, before finally speaking. "...You like me? Well, I like you too. I admire you, and I admire your intellect and guile... When I become Grand Prince, I will need to consider my succession, because unless I get everything I want, I'll have to consider who will take my place when I'm too old to rule, or, die..." He sipped his drink. "It's yet another place where Celestia's reign if flawed. You see..." Another sip, then a sigh. "...Immortal or no... She has no heir."

"Heir?" Starlight frowned. "What about her sister? Or Blueblood?"

"Luna is emotionally unstable, as I said. As for Blueblood." He scoffed. "Luna is one thing, but do YOU seriously see Prince Blueblood as the ruler of Equestria?" He chuckled disdainfully. "He's no King Grover, I'll tell you that for nothing..." his chuckle past. "No... Starlight. Celestia doesn't have any children."

At that moment, Starlight got it. "Oh." She crumpled her face in disgust. "Oh! Right, I see what you mean."

"Relax, Starlight!" Otto snorted. "If I was more interested in having foals and fillies above your own feelings, why would I have elected to sleep on the sofa, rather than taking you up on your drunken offer last night?" He scowled. "It's too early to jump into such a thing anyway, we've only been on one date, and I'm not prepared to risk everything on rushing it. But... After hearing your story, and meeting you in person..." He sighed again. "I can't think of any mare I'd rather having ruling beside me than you... If that means I need to wait, then... Well, I've already waited ten years to get this far. I can wait a little longer."

Now, it was her time to sigh, a part of her looked defeated, but happily so. "So, what's the plan?" She finally asked.

"For now, my dear, we bide our time." Otto answered. "We cannot win a fight against Twilight and her friends, or the princesses."

"Speak for yourself." Starlight jabbed. "I equalized all six of them in one go. In hindsight, the only place I went wrong was I should've used water resistant makeup to hide my cutie mark."

"That is as maybe, but now they know exactly what to look out for when dealing with you, and without your equalization spell, I don't think either of us can defeat her combat magic." He smirked. "...Not yet, at least. Once I'm strong enough, then we'll strike out."

"And how do you plan to make yourself that powerful?"

"Oh, that's simple..."

With that, Otto produced another book from a nearby shelf, going through the pages and eventually settling down on a page under the chapter Magical Relics and Antiquities. Flicking through it, he found the page he wanted, explain his intention all the way...

"The Alicorn Amulet?!" Starlight gave him a look of bewilderment and mild horror. "You want to find the Alicorn Amulet?"

"Yes."

"The amulet which gives ponies unimaginable power?"

"Yes."

"...And corrupts them the longer they wear it?"

"I'm prepared for that. I won't need to wear that amulet any longer than I have to. I just need its power once I have the theoretical spell I need to cast." He threw down a newspaper from Ponyville, with a picture of a blue unicorn, dressed in a purple hat, with a sinister black and red necklace around her neck. "...With that amulet, this unicorn... Erm, Trixie Lunamoon, was able to defeat Twilight Sparkle in a duel, before that insufferable librarian became an alicorn. That was the strongest any unicorn has ever been, and yet this Trixie was able to defeat her, and so much so that Twilight had to resort to trickery in order to defeat her." He scoffed. "Once I have that amulet, all I need is a spell. Once that spell is cast, the final part of my plan will be completed, and I can challenge the princesses themselves. Rainbow Power won't be able to stop me."

"And what spell would that be?"

Otto's grin was now gleeful, euphoric at the image of his succeeded dream. "Ascension."

Ascension: Becoming an alicorn. Once, such a notion would be madness. But it had happened before, twice! Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight were both ordinary ponies once; ascension COULD be done by an exceptionally talented or gifted pony: Cadence through the power of Love, though the thought of it seemed ludicrous to Otto, and Twilight through completing her studies under Celestia: She'd been groomed for princesshood from the very beginning. Otto was convinced in his theory: If he could find the exact spell for the transformation, he too could succeed: He could become an alicorn, and then truly be considered a prince, a true prince of Equestria; no idiot like Blueblood, or a weakling like Shining Armour. A real, ascended, alicorn prince.

Starlight did definitely seem skeptical of Otto's plan, but strangely, she made no attempt to challenge him on it; something he was expecting from a pony as strong as her, and yet, she followed his plan. He'd called his inner circle to his home for something of a clandestine meeting, where he planned to reveal Starlight to his most trusted allies within his government: Theo and his bodyguard, Fleetwood, Captain Adrienne, and Janine. What's more, he had a job for them, so this would bag two birds with one stone.

"Hang on, just a moment." Theo was the first to speak after his brother's update. "You're going to try to build a relationship with her, Starlight Glimmer?" He gave her a skeptical look.

"I told you, yes."

"But she tried to brainwash the Princess of Friendship!"

"Yes..."

"And she's completely ruthless and deceitful."

"Yes."

"And you met her only TWO DAYS AGO!"

Otto and Starlight exchanged looks. "I know, and we've talked about this. We're going to give dating a go, since there's at least something here. But, if all else fails, we both mutually profit from this relationship, even if... It doesn't really flower, so to speak. Starlight Glimmer is a very capable leader, and a skilled and powerful magician." He gave her another passing glance, a look which was as close to warm as he could muster under the circumstances. "...In any case, you might be the older brother, and you might have been brought up all religious and the like, but this is MY choice, and I'm YOUR boss. So I'd shut your trap if I were you, or you can leave. Whatever, but I wonder if the princesses would be interested to hear that you've been collecting tithes which not do the princesses NEVER ask for, but have been going strangely missing on their way to Canterlot."

Theo stammered, his mouth flapping like a dying fish. "I... I..." He scowled. "Fine, you callous little foal. But what else did you want?"

Otto snorted, brining his newspaper from the table. "This unicorn. Trixie Lunamoon. I need to speak to her, ask a few questions. I want her brought to me as soon as possible. This is not a kidnapping, Ashfeather, this is a meeting. I don't want loose ends."

The griffin snorted. "Do we know if she has any family? Any friends? Anyone who'll miss her if she's gone? If she doesn't, then what's the risk?"

"There's ALWAYS a risk." Otto hissed. "Just because we don't know she has them, doesn't mean she DOESN'T have them. Stay your claws, or else you'll get the bloodshed you're so keen to have."

"But what if she talks? Blabs that you were after her, and wanted to interrogate her for... For... What do you want from her anyway?!"

"I want to ask her about the amulet she's wearing in that picture." Otto responded. "It's magic, and I want it. She doesn't have it anymore, but she might have some leads on how I can find it... I fear our old friend Twilight has probably hidden it."

"It's the only thing she can do." Starlight suddenly spoken. "That amulet, so I've heard, is indestructible, and believe me, ponies have tried."

"Gimme that paper a second." The griffin spoke suddenly, snatching it and reading through it. "Boss, you're going the wrong. It says the task of hiding the amulet was left to somepony named Zecora, in the Everfree. A zebra..." She folded it up. "You don't want the unicorn, you want the zebra." She chuckled. "Come on, boss. A single zebra, living as a recluse in the Everfree. She's the perfect target." She grinned. "Let me send some of my boys around, we'll find that damn amulet."

"No." Otto scowled. "At least not yet. No roughing up ponies!"

"But she's not a pony, is she?" Ashfeather continued grinning.

"You curr!" Theo spat suddenly. "That zebra is an equine, and is just as protected by the rights and laws of this land as any pony! You'd do well to stay your tongue before you continue to insult our kind!"

"Your kind?! Oh, the timid little hypocritial pony dares to bring bigotry into this?! How many zebras do you see in Manehatten, huh? Your kind like to run around, frightened by anything which isn't just like you! Is there any wonder why my homeland is in poverty and squalor, while you lot live in luxery?!"

The unicorn and the griffin continued to shout at one another quite ferociously, causing Fleetwood and Janine to nervously back away. Otto rolled his eyes, looking over at a very cross looking Starlight, who eventually stepped in.

"QUIET!" She barked, easily louder than either griffin or unicorn. The pair froze, turning to look at her. Otto smirked at the sight.

"Heh, impressive voice." he commented, overlooking how she now seemed to have veins popping on her neck, and she'd messed up her mane in her shouting.

"Thanks." she she softened slightly at the compliment, before returning to the others. "...Anyway. If you both want to stop squabbling like a pair of troublesome fools, perhaps we can start acting like adults?!" They winced, she had quite the voice on her. "Captain Ashfeather. Your plan is Plan B. If the unicorn hasn't got any information for us, we'll go and rough up the zebra, but if we do that, we need to make sure there's no chance of this leaking out. It is a LAST RESORT. But, we may need you and your men to put the hoof-screws on if this blue unicorn refuses to play ball."

The griffin was not impressed, but nodded. "Fine. But this better not affect my pay."

"It won't." Otto interjected. "I assure you."

They concluded their meeting, and the higher-ups of Otto's minions hurried out the door, though Janine had loitered after all the others had gone. That was fine by Otto: He quite liked Janine, and she had a habit of brightening his day. She was like a puppy, a puppy who talked about her home life, and her mum, quite a lot: It helped Otto to relax, and distract himself from his own problems for a little while.

"...And it's just unfair. Even my younger sister has got her cutie mark before me, and she's only eight!" Janine continued her long, long rant at Otto, who sat quietly and listening a cup of tea held afloat with his magic. "My mum keeps saying 'oh, don't worry Janine, you'll get your cuite mark when your ready'. But I'm sixteen years old, and I've still got nothing to show for it! Urgh, I must be the oldest unicorn ever to not get their cutie mark."

"Oh, I wouldn't panic too much." Otto responded, pouring her some tea from a pot. "I've heard of far, far older ponies not having their cutie marks."

"You're bluffing." She gave him a look. "There can't be! Right?!"

"There was indeed. I don't remember her name, I think it started with an A... But, she was... Definitely at least an adult."

"Oh, by Celestia..." Janine looked quite disconcerted.

"Don't worry so much about it." Starlight offered. "The deseperate need for ponies like you to have a cuite mark is itself pretty harmful. Fillies and colts like you would be far happier if you didn't worry so much about vicariously living though a picture on your flank."

The young red unicorn looked very skeptical. "Easy for you to say. You've GOT your cutie mark."

"And how much hardship, struggle and effort did I have to put in to get it? I'd have had far more time to relax and actually enjoy myself if I hadn't have even bothered. Nobody in my town cared about sharing a common cutie mark. Everyone was equal, and it was lovely... Well, until we ran across a few problem guests." She frowned.

"So... In a way... You could give ponies cutie marks?"

At that point, Otto interrupted. "Okay, I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here." He chuckled.

"Indeed." Starlight added, briefly flicking her gaze with mild but forgivable annoyance at her companion. "Unfortunately, my spell doesn't actually work on blank flanked ponies. There's no mark to take away in the first place. It's rather like fishing, in that regard. One can cast their line into any body of water they life, but if there isn't a fish, you're not going to get a bite."

Janine didn't look terribly impressed: It was normal for ponies in her position to long for the day they got their marks, it was such a fundamental part of pony society, few could even contemplate life any other way: There was almost a sanctity to the cutie mark, Otto mused on his thoughts later that day, when Janine had long since left, but her conversations lingered on in memory; a mere mark upon the flank, somehow able to decide the fate and destiny of a pony by its mere appearance upon the body.

...Starlight's quest to sever the connection between a pony and their mark was noble, he concluded: At one point, she had genuinely believed she was liberating ponies from a suffering, freeing them from the fickle ties of cutie marks and destinies, and sparing the young fillies and colts from the struggles to seek them, and then live with what they might find. It was, however, a folly: Even Starlight Glimmer herself was caught up the cutie mark's trap, for she needed her mark, and the special talents it embodied, in order to wield that very same magic which used to crusade against them. Even if she converted every pony in the world, then converted herself for good measure, she'd be powerless to prevent the next generation from someday finding their own marks, and then she couldn't take those marks away from them: Destiny would always win in the end.

And that's why Otto knew he had to succeed: He too had been a late bloomer for his cutie mark. It was a strange mark at that: A black shield, and crossed swords. It wasn't common to have a shield as a mark, and weapons were generally not seen as good marks to have upon the flank either: Weapons, naturally, suggested violence, suggesting a violent pony, suggesting a bad pony, a pony one should not mess with. Well, perhaps people shouldn't mess with him, he thought. He knew now what his mark meant, what it had always meant: A shield, to defend his people from the incompetence and serial failures of the Princesses, and to protect said ponies from themselves if needs be; and swords, long and sharp, to cut down anyone and anything which would threaten to undermine his efforts.

It was harsh, he knew. He'd already killed one good pony on his quest, with red shoes replacing the executioner's blade. But it was too important to be sentimental about. He had to succeed! Failure would leave his people, his city, under the eternal rule of a cake-eating fool and her hysterical sister! Failure couldn't be in Otto's vocabulary! There was no room for such thought: This was his destiny! ...At least, that's what his cuite mark had been telling him. He needed only to listen.