The Iron Chancellor

by Radical Centrist

Forts, meet catapult and Trebuchet

Author's Note:

Trebuchet and Catapults had not been invented in Equis yet (except the German Empire) due to there being no need to break the walls of forts and castles. (The pegasus could fly over them and the other factions, civilisations and nations from different races are either too primitive, decentralised or can climb the walls).

Furthermore, they would raid villagers and unprotected countryside, which means that the catapults and trebuchet would not have to be thought-about as they would just not need them.

"Surrender pegasus!" Forest called out, their army surrounding a fort, with seige engines perched atop the adjacent hills.

"No!" The defiant defenders called back, sticking to their walls.

"Surrender below we kill you all!" Forest bluntly threatened, gesturing his seige engines to prepare to fire at a given signal.

"With what?! Your big wooden spoons?!" The pegasus lining the walls laughed ignorantly, the concepts of the trebuchet and catapults completely foreign to their society due to their uselessness during sieges, as they could just always fly over the walls, instead of having to destroy them.

"So be it! Show them we mean business Jacobins!" Forest lowered his hoof, prompting the ponies operating the engines to fire, hurling thousands of rock shards from their catapults whilst a huge boulder was launched from the trebuchet.

The pegasus' demeanours quickly turned to horrification, as they realised too late the purpose of the large 'wooden spoons' and one 'fishing rod'. They managed to duck and slide behind the forts' walls, but the projectiles powered through them, crushing any pegasus hiding behind them.

The forts' walls collapsed from the boulders' impact, as they weren't made to handle such force, and were constructed by stone to merely deter against fire. The pegasus screamed as the collapsing structures crushed their hollow bones and bodies.

"Don't let them escape! Fire the second volley!" Forest ordered, aiming at some pegasus attempting an escape into the air, which prompted the second lines of catapults holdings large nets of small rocks to come forward to aim generally at the routing defenders. "Fire!"

The catapults atop the hills lanched their projectiles in the air, many of them colliding with each other in the air, creating giant smokes of dust that fell on the sieging Jacobins. However, many reached their intended targets, annihilating the pegasus attempting to flee.

"Another bloodless victory..." A captain remarked, standing beside Forest, "Might it be possible general?" He gulped,

"Do not celebrate too early Captain Sight," Forest advised, "We have only beaten the worst of the Equestrian pegasus's." Forest maintained, "We will be victorious when we face an actual army."

---

Present time

"Our success is unprecedented..." Jaco evaluated, his improvised map suggesting that they controlled the entire northeastern sector of the Equestrian lands.

"But our enemies could find out anytime..." Green added, fearing that a pegasus scout had already discovered their exploit, and was now sending an army to squash their rebellion.

"Our progress could be undone..." Copper shuddered, as the thought of their prosperity being ruined and taken away haunted his mind.

"We will never let that happen!" Forest affirmed, setting a hoof down on the table, which rocked the map and figurines over. "Oops..." He muttered, and quickly set the figurines back into place.

"We are currently surrounded by all sides! South, west and southeast..." Green moved three wooden pieces near their borders, signifying any invasion routes into their lands.

"They could also swing from the north or east, catching us off-guard." Jaco placed two extra pieces, effectively surrounding their borders.

"They are faster, and they could simply fly over us as well." Copper placed several pieces inside their territory, shaking whilst doing so.

"We won't have to worry about fliers in our territory elder, I have already encamped catapults in all the hills in our territory," Forest assured, removing all the pieces in their lands.

"Do we have any forts we could use?" Green asked, hoping that they could use them to pay attention in different areas.

"Nay, they've all been destroyed by our engines, and would be ineffective anyway." Forest brooded, "The ones currently in construction will take at least another month."

"Do we have enough soldiers to guard the entire length of our borders?" Jaco asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, we will either have to split our forces or group at where the pegasus hits," Forest explained, grimacing at their chances. "I recommend we split our forces until we encounter their army, at which point we will gather up whilst a small force delay the pegasuses."

Everpony except Green nodded at the plan, as he began to recall an event in Harolds' book. "We attack." He decided, which caused the ponies in the room to look towards him in bewilderment.

"Attack?! How will we guard against their attacks then?!" Copper demanded, concerned of their villagers' safety against any revanchist pegasuses.

"They can't attack if we threaten them." Green grabbed an iron piece, setting it up on the map. "They will be forced to defend against us, and redirect any troops to do so." Green slid the iron piece deeper into Equestrian lands, "We will destroy them here." Green finished, stopping his piece on top of the pegasuses headquarters.

"THE CLOUDIAN FORTRESS?!" Forest bellowed, "YOU MAD?!" Everypony knew of the Cloudian fortress, the main headquarters of the pegasus military that served to remind the lowly earth ponies who controlled them. The tyrannical representation of the pegasus, the fortress floated like them and acted as the office of the second most hated pony in Equestria; Commander Hurricane.
"WE'LL BE SURROUNDED AND MURDERED!" Forest foreshadowed, as the fortress was located in a place where it could reinforce the other minor headquarters and the garrisons, meaning that they could also be a rallying point to surround their army.

"It's our only chance general." Green figured, "If we split our force, it will be impossible to delay anything no smaller than a pack of timber wolves."

"But this is blatant suicide!" Forest argued desperately,

"It may be... But it would at least teach those pegasuses to stay off our land." Green concluded as an attack would imply that they had soldiers to spare, meaning that their gains could be kept for a longer period. "If we go through with this plan, we would buy our fellow earth ponies enough time to prepare for another attack." Green continued, "There's no other way..."

Jaco and Copper tried to speak but shut their mouth in contemplation. Forest began to nod his head in understanding and decided it was the only choice they had.

"Then we must leave immediately... Before the pegasuses decide to attack us." Forest concluded, preparing to leave.

"Count me in as well! our movement always lacked a martyr." Jaco joked, taking his side with Forest.

"Then I shall leave with you," Copper interjected, causing the two ponies to jump in surprise.

"Elder?! You can't leave with us! Who will lead our ponies?!" Forest and Jaco professed, terrified of Coppers' safety.

"I had a long run... And my days are numbered. I will rather die with warm blood spilling than expire on my bed, blood cold from inaction." Copper insisted, taking their sides as well.

"Then who will lead in your place elder?" Green asked, which made the elder smile.

"You and your sister have shown great leadership in these trying times." The elder began and placed a hoof on Greens' shoulders. "I could not think of a better replacement than you two to lead my village." The elder certified.

"...I'm afraid Little will have to pick up that mantle..." Green attested and grabbed the map off the table. "Because I'll be joining you three to martyrdom." He finished with a smirk.

"What of your sister?" Copper challenged undeterred, despite Forest and Jaco watching wide-mouthed at Greens' self-sacrifice.

"She will have to cope." Greens' expressions began to sadden. "But we still need a commander to lead the army," Green affirmed, stomping his pain out. "I must do what has to be done." He solemnly finished, trotting over to the three ponys' sides.

"We won't survive this..." Forest determined, knowing that the odds were stacked against them. They began leaving the tent.

"We will be wiped out..." Jaco confirmed, imagining the pegasus horde washing them out, like a wave to a sandcastle. They approached a hill overlooking their city.

"We will buy time... No matter the cost..." Copper growled, despising the pegasus and unicorns for leading them to violence. They began overlooking the city, watching the sun begin to set on their beautiful work.

"Do not tell her of my departure..." Green stated, gripping his chest in guilt. "I cannot let her stop me... For what is to come..." They all nodded, putting their hooves over each other's shoulders.

"We will show them..."

Comments

[The Toaster]

When will Bismark show up? I am just having goosebumps only thinking about him meeting Celestia!

[Radical Centrist]

10816064
Soon...

[Radical Centrist]

10816069
By that I mean probably 10 chapters

[Radical Centrist]

10816070
So around a week

[Radical Centrist]

10815818
It's almost harvesting season!

[Radical Centrist]

Also, sorry for the references. I just can't help it.

[Bronycommander]

another short but good chapter!

[kaiser0kolovos]

Green definitely learned a lot from the Griffons, between tactics, a fighting spirit, and the will to charge.

Any plans on taking the rebellion to the Unicorns next?

[HB_DS2013]

10816614
The unicorns will definitely be OP with their magic.

[kaiser0kolovos]

10816947

Magic gives them an advantage but I wouldn't say that they're OP to the point that the Jacobins couldn't do some massive damage.

Unicorns like Twilight, Shining Armor, Starlight, and Starswirl are pretty unique, I wouldn't expect many unicorns to have the similar capabilities.

My biggest concern is getting the alicorns involved.

[HB_DS2013]

10816961
I keep forgetting that Twilight, Shining Armor, Starlight, and Starswirl are the exception. Yeah, it would suck if the alicorns got involved. They can just ice or glass 'em.