Chapter 0: The Man Behind the Scene
It was another beautiful day in Canterlot, the Royal Capital of Equestria. A city carved on the side of a tall mountain with beautiful waterfalls and rivers that gracefully flowed through it. The city itself is home to many ivory towers with golden spires and at the farthest side of Canterlot stood the Royal Palace that hung over the mountain in great stability. Such municipal grandiose and elegance reflects the glorious mastery of Equestrian architecture.
As we delve deeper into the Royal Place, we enter the Royal Audience Chamber. A grand hall where rows of equine guards in golden armors stood vigilant on the sides of a long red carpet from the huge golden-laced door leading towards an empty golden throne with an equine squire diligently standing by with a royal trumpet tucked to his side.
As the doors of the Audience Hall opened several ponies enters the room, all had on them a dignified posture befitting the high class elites that they are whom all have come for an important audience with the Royal Princess.
As the ponies stands in a line and patiently awaited, the squire reached for his trumpet and echoed the royal entrace theme.
"All kneel in the presence of the Royal Princess of Equestria!" The squire took a dramatic pause, "Her Majesty, Princess Celestia!"
All inhabitants of the room knelt on the ground in obidience and a tall royal figure entered the room from behind the curtains right beside the throne. Her coat was white as snow; her mane and tail reflected a rainbow that flowed and sparkles all around; her eyes had a soft pair of magenta irises befitting her graceful gaze with a clear indications of confidence, benevolence, and strong sense of justice behind them. The majestic figure was the Royal Princess of Equestria attired with a golden crown and necklace embeded with purple gems, a set of golden hoof shoes, and a sun-shaped cutie mark that symbolize her magical prowess over the celestial bodies above.
As the Princess took her seat on her throne, she gave the silence within the room a warm and soothing voice, "At ease, my little ponies. Rise your heads". The squire, guards, and visitors alike heeded the words and with a smile she continued, "I declare that the Court of Day is now in session. Bring forth our first audience."
And so the court began.
With a golden light that glowed from the tip of her horn, Princess Celestia closed her eyes as she stands on a balcony that oversees Equestria from above. Soon, her face winced as she concentrated even more and then her magic begins its work lowering the bright and burning celestial body up above and bringing forth the moon as the stars revealed themselves amidst the darkening sky.
With her job well done, Celestia sighs in relief and begin her steps towards her Royal Chamber to turn in for the night, greeting her royal guard as well as maids and butlers along the way.
As she closed the door of her room behind her, she locked the door and enchanted the room in a series of simple security spells. Now one must be thinking, is it not pretty normal for a millenium old monarch to be concerned with her own safety? Is it not pretty normal for said monarch to declare a law that forbids any from entering her royal chambers without permissions?
Well, everyone thought it was normal: after all this law has been established for more than a thousand years old and the monarch must really value her privacy after long days of governing.
Celestia walked toward a huge painting of Canterlot in her room and stood there for a few seconds. She then took a deep breath and used her magic to lift the painting aside, revealing a small hidden lever behind it. A click was heard from the side of her King-sized bed as she pulled on the lever.
As she approached the source of the noise, she could see a small camoflaged wooden button which would be very easy to miss to the untrained eyes. She clicked it and suddenly a series of contraptions began to echo within the room and the center of her bookshelves suddenly opened, revealing a small stone with carvings that resembles a picture of the sun and the moon.
She poured a litte of her magic into it and the seal recognized her magical resonance and thus the bookcase finally opened itself, unlocking a hidden path that leads deeper into a dark corridor where a single wooden door reside at the end of it.
She took a deep breath and smiled mischeviously before slamming the door open and unleashing her royal canterlot voi--
"BOO!" A bipedal figure jumped right in front of her wearing a rather frightening red oni mask before she could even say anything.
Startled with the counter surprise, Celestia shrieked... in her Canterlot voice. "BWAAAAAAAH!!"
After a few moment of getting surprised at the suddent canterlot-voice-induced shriek, the biped finally registered what happened and laughed out loud, "AHAHAHAHA!! Y-You screamed like a little filly... with your Canterlot voice no less!" As if comically wiping his tear, his laughter only continued, "Hahaha, hilarious!"
With her face reddening like a tomato, tears of shame formed on the side of Celestia's eyes, "T-That was uncalled for! This is so unfair!" She pouted cutely, "You were supposed to be surprised, not me!!"
The figure's laugh has subsided and he reached for his mask, "Ha... what? And you slamming the door to 'ambush' me with your booming voice count as fair, hm?"
Like a little sister being teased by her big brother, Celestia merely pouted even more in annoyance.
The figure revealed his face, he was a human male who looked like he was in his early twenties with a skinny, but a little muscular, stature. His white hair was mid length and messy with a right eye that was as red as blood and an eye patch that hid his left eye which was had a scar that span from his forehead, through his left eye, and over half of his left-side cheek. He had an incredibly white complexion which accentuates his albinism even more and wore a black turtle neck sweater with black pants, standing taller than Celestia's by at least a head.
"Welcome home, Tia," the man greeted her with a warm hug and a smile.
Celestia's pout diminished and she happily returned the hug with her own, buring her face to his chest, "Mm. I'm home, Neo!"
The man identified as Neo smiled and replied, "You know, I sudddenly feel warm and tired for some reason, but I can't tell why--" As if on cue, he fell on his back with his forehead suddenly bursting with a small fountain of blood as a small tip of Celestia's horn stuck itself into Neo's forehead rather comically.
"AAAH, I'M SORRYYY!!!"
"--And then after those annoying corporate ponies' greedy demands, the elites of Canterlot came to me over ridiculous requests and petty disputes! Can you believe that I have to settle the dispute between a foal and their siblings over a toy?? It was hardly worth my time! Ugh, the immaturity of our little ponies never ceased to amaze me..."
The great monarch of Equestria, revered by her ponies and allies alike for her incredible wisdom and beauty, feared by her enemies for her sheer power and influence, was complaining about her job as she drank from her tea as if receiving a counsel.
"Hahaha! Now THAT I can agree," Neo merely patted the Princess on the head and chuckled in amusement, "There, there... well, at the very least, that envoy from Griffonia did came after all to discuss our trade proposals further today, didn't they?"
Celestia blinked, "You... never cease to amaze me, Big Brother..." She took a sip and set her tea down, "How did you know that the Griffonian envoy came today? I haven't even mention anything about it yet."
"Heh. Lucky guess." Neo gave her a knowing smile, "It's because you don't seem as frustrated as usual, so at least one good thing must've happened today either something is going according to plan... or perhaps you had an enjoyable day with that student of yours," he chuckled and took a sip of his tea.
Celestia giggled teasingly, "Am I really that predictable?"
"If you've lived as long as I do, then perhaps."
"I'm older than you," Celestia deadpanned.
"Well... yes, but I'm more mentally mature than you."
"After surprising me with that toy of yours? The red 'oni' mask as you called it?"
"Says the person that shrieked in her Royal Canterlot Voice~"
Both of them giggled at their earlier show of immaturity, but then Celestia asked once more, "But how did you know they're going to accept our proposal so quickly? It has only been about a week."
"Oh, that..." Neo finished his tea and set it down then gave her the legendary 'keikaku doori' smile, "Come now, Celestia, you've experienced politics for more than a thousand years! Wouldn't it be natural for them to accept our trade deal at the expense of opening both of our borders and building joint transportation infrastructures?"
Celestia seemed even more puzzled, "If you ask me, your proposal was not exactly... convincing at the first glance."
"How so?"
"While I admit that we're living in the age of relative peace now, your proposal to 'open up more opportunity for economic relations' through a joint railway infrastructure project co-funded and co-constructed by Equestria and Griffonia, with us bearing most of the expense, seems rather... fishy."
"Correction, we're lending our money, but, heh, it's rather too good to be true ain't it?"
"To put it simply... yes." Neo hummed in agreement which only got Celestia event more confused. "Well... why did you propose such a thing then?"
The man closed his eyes, "Remember Celestia, politics is the art of the possible. Despite holding absolute power, you of all people would very much understand that a state has never been a one-man, or one-pony, show. Decision makers, domestic influences, national interests, bureaucratic processes, these are some of the other factors that come into play other than international pressures." Neo further explained, "Your previous reports mentioned that Griffonia's economy is in decline since the last two decades and that they have a surplus of military assets that is gradually draining their economy just for its maintenance and management alone."
He chuckled, "Well, it's not like they want to expand the military, it's just that their political culture puts an emphasis on military development and military service to provide job opportunities for their Griffons, ensure security, and instil loyalty as well as nationalist ideologies within their populace. Reducing or even abolishing military programs, sectors, or even reducing their personnel is out of the question lest the generals and the army itself may cause several domestic turmoil."
Celestia furrowed her eye brows, "Would doing such a thing really instigate a coup?"
Neo laughed, "Of course not, my dear! Although simple minded, even they aren't that dumb or immature. There's no way downgrading military programs would cause such a big blow to their domestic stability."
"Then, why?"
Neo smirked, "Any experienced economist would understand that liberalizing the market is a way to stimulate economic growth and technological innovation, something that Griffonia is still working with since most of the populus, and therefore the bureaucracy, advocate state ownership of business than most other states.
"This... geo-economic project would mean that we are giving them a chance to develop and stimulate domestic economic development by lending our money for construction and reducing logistics transports by means of this new intercontinental railroad project. Not only this project would open opportunities for Griffin employment thus alleviating poverty, joblessness, and increasing productivity, it could stimulate entrepreneurs and Griffin businesses to trade with Equestrian business and vice versa. Eventually as their economy develop, it would even be said that the can pay us back for the money they owe us for this megaproject."
The more Celestia listens the more it seems that this trade is highly fell in Griffonia's favor. Observing such subtle doubt made Neo smirk even more, "That is of course beneficial for Griffonia in the short and medium term. Honestly refusing such an offer would be highly irrational!"
Celestia blinked, "What do you mean, it'll only benefit Griffonia in the short and medium term...?"
Neo then gave her the legendary, 'Just As Planned!' smile, "Our economy is thriving and perhaps one of the most self-sufficient in any political history. Although we'll be investing more in this project than Griffonia would, such investment is not a bad deal considering our true goals in the long term: interdependence and mobility."
All the piece fell together and Celestia began to understand the grand scheme delivered by the human in front of her, "By building more access between our nations, we can assist Griffonian private industries to flourish as much as we can benefit from more trade with the Griffons. However, the key purpose of this strategy is neither to establish political influence nor to benefit our economy... instead you want to gradually develop economic dependance of Griffonian economy to Equestria through this intercontinental railroad project thus also earing us political influence over Griffonia in the long term..." However she furrowed her eye brow even more, "But then what do you mean by we could achieve 'mobility'?"
Neo clapped his hand and smiled in amusement, "Well done! You've solved first phase of this three-part strategy. Now to answer your question..." He then donned the same calculating smile, "Fundamentally speaking, if your logistics can ship products and other resources... then you can also ship your military personnels."
Celestia widened her eyes and her mouth was agape in disbelief as Neo only elaborated further as he stood up like a conductor that have just finished leading his orchestra with arms open wide, "In the case that Griffonia would not be able to pay us back on time in the next few decades or so, we can shift the ownership of this railroads to ourselves, imposing tariffs and tax if they still want to use it, which they would considering that we want to influence their economoc development to depend on ours and that railroad.
"However, in the case that Griffonia would come to develop their economy rapidly and pay back the money they owed, we can just maintain our co-ownership of this railroad, preventing unilateral nationalization of this railroad. Even if they dared to nationalize this road, it'd be pointless because we'll just impose an embargo of Griffonian trade as we close down the railroad on our end, leaving those economically dependent businesses to breakdown and crippling their national economy - after all we are self-sufficient enough even without trading with the Griffons."
Neo chuckled darkly, "But that's not all!" His eyes darkened and his smile widened, "In the case of war or other international threats, we can quickly repurpose this intercontinental railroads to mobilize our troops and Equestria, having an advanced knowledge in our magical technology especially in barrier magic, would easily disrupt or counter any attempts to use this mobility against us. - this means that only we can monopolize this strategy."
With an elegant bow, the human smiled in dark innocence, "And that is the second phase of this plan."
Silence filled the room.
Celestia took a sip of her tea and swallowed her shock at the deeply complex revelation of the hidden mastermind behind Equestrian politics. She took another breath and asked him a question to confirm her guess, "And dare I ask what do you have in mind for the third phase?"
Neo rose his head and put on his signature perpetual smile, "I believe you already know the answer to that question."
"...You wish to expand this strategy, not only only through railroads on land, but also through sea routes. Expanding this economic interdependence and access as well as mobility between all nations and their territories with Equestria at its center," Celestia narrowed her eyes in realization, "...Which was why you told me to prepare to negotiate with Seaquestria on that joint harbor investments program and collective naval forces to secure our bordering maritime territories."
Neo could only smile, proud at Celestia's capability to grasp and understand such a comprehensive and difficult grand strategy. What a perfect plan, or so she thought to herself, just how long has Neo thought of this and why implement it now of all time?
Neo's gaze met Celestia's, keeping his calculating gaze in tact. He then sighed, "Nonetheless, I do hope that we won't ever have a need for such drastic measures and keep this plan strictly to solidify our economic influence only..." and then he gave her a teasing smirk as if reading her mind, "Oh well, you must be wondering why now of all time, hm? Why didn't I think of this long ago? Well... I did, but only recently did I notice that now is the perfect time to execute this plan. Why now specifically, you might ask? Well, I'm not gonna answer that for now since it'd only spoil all the fun~!"
Celestia only pouted at the vague reply which made the human reach out to pat her mane and scratch her behind the ears. The gesture left her humming in delight until she realized that she was still puzzled by how her 'Big Brother' could devise such a grand scheme without ever explaining it properly to her until now, "Mm, you jerk..."
"Well, what kind of a big brother would I be if I don't even pay proper attention for my little sister!" he only smiled even more, "Besides, all I can do is guess and advice. I'm no clairvoyant and this long term plan might get derailed at any given moment due to factors that I may have not take into account...
"All I wish is that I can help you keep this fragile peace together for both of our sakes and the world."
A comfortable silence filled the room and soon Neo stood up and cleaned up the tea set. Then he asked, "Anything else that you want to do tonight, hm? A massage? A policy review? Or a lullaby, maybe?"
Celestia yawned, "A lullaby sounds nice. I'm rather tired tonight and it's getting late," she then eyed the human in mischevously, "...but I want YOU to give me a lap pillow and play me your kalimba!"
The man rolled his eyes and chuckled in amusement, "My, my, aren't you a spoiled little sister?"
However, his comment was met with 'the Royal Puppy Eyes', "Pretty, please?" If cuteness can kill, that'd be Celestia's puppy eyes.
"Heh, as if I'm gonna refuse anyway," Neo smiled warmly and sat down on his large bed, with Celestia following behind him and resting her head happily on his lap.
Neo than began to play a particular song on his Kalimba. With the soft and soothing sound of the music resonating in within this hidden studies, the Princess found her eyes to grow heavy in as she slowly drift into her sleep.
She gently rubbed her eyes and soon, Neo began to softly sing.
"Come sleep now, my dear child.
Let your dreamworld bloom tonight." Celestia let own another soft yawn as he continued,
"Don't be scared, be at ease.
I'm here now for you, so please."
The Kalimba kept playing the song and the rhytmh helps in soothing the soul.
"Gently soar through the highest cloud above.
Let the stars flicker then swim through the deepest ocean waves."
There was no magic behind such a comforting tune. It was all pure emotions of love, care, and affection; a melody that calms and bring tranquility to the mind after a long time of struggle.
"Then, lie down on a field of Jasmine.
No matter what I am by then, I'll always be your friend."
A warm feeling of safety comforted the millenium years old monarch, she felt a tinge of nostalgia, pain, and sense of guilt and loneliness; all her struggles in her long life.
"Hush now, sleep my child.
Let this song heal you tonight."
As the Kalimba stopped playing, Neo brushed over Celestia's mane with a warm smile.
"I'll never let you go.
So, don't you ever feel alone."
As the singing stop, silence returned into this hidden chamber. Neo sighed in relief, happy of the now sleeping equine princess who was sleeping soundly with an experession that could only be understood as a mixture of pained tranquility.
A single tear escaped Celestia's sleeping eyes and she mumbled in her sleep, "I... miss... Lulu..."
With pang of regret, Neo could only keep his smile and wiped the tears away as he kept on petting her head gently. Before replying with a mumbling of his own, "Me too, Tia... me too..."
A thousand years... huh? He couldn't believe that he's been living for that long ever since THAT DAY.
Closing his eyes, Neo felt himself falling into a deep slumber as well as an old memory began to surface. That's right, he thought to himself.
Who was he, why was he here, what was his purpose, and what was his story... Well, it all began one thousand years ago...
Author's Note
Hello, there! I'm sorry if this fic is a little weird. I've recently been watching My Little Pony again and I finally dared myself to try writing this fic that I've always thought about for a long time.
For some clarifications, I do not own My Little Pony or any works that I present through url links in this story aside from my own OC.
The kalimba song used this chapter refers to the melody, while the lyrical adaptation that I originally made here is a modification of the another artist' lyrical adaptation to the song.
For more visual reference Neo looks like a combination of Riku Dola from No Game No Life Zero and Underswap Gaster... except mine is actually albino plus wearing an eye patch.
I may not be able to update regularly, but I intend to keep writing this story of mine. Since the next chapters will be set within Old Equestria (during its founding and early rules of Celestia and Luna) I may got some of the history tangled or jumbled together, but I'll try to stick to the cannon as much as I can... well, with a twist of course.
Anyway, this is still my first fimfiction and any constructive feedbacks or criticism would be appreciated!
Thus without further ado
See ya next chapt, Capt!
:v /
