The Iron Chancellor

by Radical Centrist

The Scramble for defence

"Amore VI has sent us a letter for surrender," A lieutenant pulled out a golden paper with the Emperor's seal. "They will spare our lives if we turn in our masters and leave." The lieutenant passed the letter to his general, who quickly scanned through it.

"We are honour-bound to fight to the death," the general looked up, stashing the letter, "We signed a contract that guarantees our loyalty towards the nobles." The lieutenant nodded.

"The invading army's marshal had also given us a letter," The lieutenant shakily passed a bloodied letter to his general, not using his magic as to not break protocol.

"...From Marshal Flay Mustafa?" The general grabbed the letter carefully as to not soak his hoof with blood. He opened it.

The general immediately recoiled and dropped the letter, holding his muzzle to hold in a vomit. His face turned green in disgust whilst the lieutenant turned his head in sorrow.

The letter had a severed ear pinned to it, with traces of blood still oozing out. The words were covered with splotches of dried and wet blood.

"Surrender, or else." it read.

---

"Do we have to fight?" A general argued, "Amore's going to free us from our contracts; we won't have to die for those greedy bastards no more!" Many generals nodded.

"There's no guarantee; did you see what they did?" A general presented a letter with a clipped ear; the blood still dripping to the floor. "Many of us have fought against Amore V, and his heir will not forgive us." Several generals drooped their heads in contemplation.

"Then we fight."

The generals snapped their heads towards the door; immediately recognising the voice. "...Essie?"

"Eccentric." He corrected; annoyed at how everypony seemed to call him 'Essie'.

"You're a duke! What are you still doing here?!" A general blurted, as all the other nobles had evacuated as soon as they heard the Crystal Empire's invasion.

"What? Can't a noble duke defend her majesty's subjects?" Eccentric held a hoof on his chest as if he was hurt by the general's outburst.

"...Also, the fact that you repelled Amore V's armies during the siege of Hoofington? And his son wants blood in revenge?" A general helpfully supplemented; making Eccentric look away innocently.

"Anyways, worry not! I shall defend Canterlot as I did in Hoofington, and repel the Crystal Empire once more!" Eccentric posed valiantly, somehow materialising a stool underneath him to elevate the right half of his body.

"The times have changed Essi-"

"ECCENTRIC" Eccentric growled,

"-don't care, the times have changed Essie, our walls now shatter against Amore's engines, the pegasuses are out of the picture, and the Empire far outnumbers us." A general informed, strengthening the defeatist mood in the room. However, Eccentric held firm, still bracing on his stool.

"That may be true-"

"-It is true..." A general groaned,

"*ahem*-That is true, but we've prevailed from harsher odds!" Eccentric reasoned,

"Oh?" A general raised a brow.

"Oh yes! We've defeated the pegasuses whilst being outnumbered!" Eccentric smiled triumphantly.

"Yes, because it was a surprise attack and the pegasuses didn't have time to gather their forces." A general boredly countered, "Mustafa's forces are the one's attacking, we are the ones defending, and they haven't scattered, but grouped up during their advance." The generals sighed again.

Eccentric stopped to think, "What if we attack? -no, we don't have the speed to do it... Perhaps we run? -no, that would simply delay the inevitable... Scorched earth is out of the question with the earth ponies in charge... There is also a probability that the earth ponies would align themselves with Amore..." Eccentric sighed, stepping off his stool. He curled up to think of a solution.

The room quickly devolved into bouts of depressive groans and sighs, as the generals aimlessly scribbled on their notes with their heads set flat against the tables, whilst Eccentric rubbed his temples attempting to figure out a solution. However, their whines would suddenly be drowned out by noises of struggle from the door.

"Hey, Hey! Stop right th- What are you- Step back! -I SAID STEP BACK!" A guard screamed out, followed by the sounds of a door being forced open. "Stop now! Or else you will be killed!" the guard threatened helplessly.

"With one of you? Fat chance?" A pony mocked, followed by a wave of laughter. Eccentric and the Generals faced the door, as the noises became closer.

"Duke Lawlane! The earth ponies are here!" the lone guard shouted, prompting Eccentric and the generals to brace for battle.

"COMING IN!" An earth pony shouted as an axe carved into the door. The generals flinched in fear. Several more swings followed, causing a small opening to form in the centre of the door, revealing a fancy uniform donned by the swinging pony.

The generals flinched once more, as the axe struck the wall adjacent to the door; creating a slight bump on their side. The swinging pony stopped and leaned into the opening he had created; wearing a psychopathic expression.

"Here's Rimpler!"

"-AHHHHHHH!" The generals screamed, as one of them shot a bolt at the face, causing the earth pony to be launched backwards.

"ARGH! MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!" He cried out, prompting the generals to stick to the walls in fear of retribution.

"What the fuck just happened?" Eccentric stared blankly at the scene; his brain losing thousands of brain cells from overload.

It was going to be a long day...

---

The room had finally calmed down, as the Republican and unicorn generals sat uneasily around the table; many having to squeeze in between each other due to a lack of space.

Eccentric cleared his throat to begin,

"-So you're saying the 'Republicans' had sent you and an army to help us defend Canterlot?" Eccentric inquired,

"No, we came here for some tea." Rimpler smiled innocently. Eccentric face-hooved.

"How many are coming?" Eccentric recovered fast, lifting his head.

"20,000 are already here, and no more are coming." Rimpler frowned with the last detail.

"That would be 21,000 in total..." Eccentric mumbled thoughtfully, "Against 200,000 Crystal Ponies with better equipment as well..." Eccentric continued to brood, disregarding Rimpler's existence.

"That's why we gotta go!" Rimpler raised his hoof cheerfully,

"Go? You mean right now?" Eccentric worryingly asked,

"Of course right now! We have no time to lose! Carry 'em all officers!" Rimpler lunged in; grabbing Eccentric and hoisting him over his barrel. His generals followed. "Onwards! TO EVERY ANGLE OF THE WALLS!" Rimpler dashed out, heading straight for the wall facing the palace; it was the largest stretch of wall in Canterlot, and the grounds leading up to it was flat and easy to traverse. He would defend and fortify the most difficult point.

---

"Dissapointment." Rimpler clicked his tongue, as he observed and poked the walls which were near-crumbling due to negligence and mismanagement.

"Tell the engineers to modernise and fix the walls, they're about to collapse on its own," Rimpler ordered a general, who promptly saluted and dashed off to their engineer's headquarters.

"Also tell them to build ravelins adjacent to the walls; we wouldn't want any attackers fleeing with their lives would we?" Another general saluted, dashing towards the same direction as the former did.

(Ravelins are triangular protrusions on or adjacent to walls that provide crossfire and hinder assaults in general.)

As Rimpler continued to order constructions, Eccentric observed him suspiciously, "Why are you doing this?" Eccentric asked, placing a hoof on the distracted Marshal.

"Hm?" Rimpler turned, slapping Eccentric's hoof off.

"Why are you helping us? You will be defending your oppressor's capital, and be dying to protect the race which killed your friends and family." Eccentric pushed for answers, risking bringing up painful memories to gain the reasons for the Republic's selflessness.

Rimpler simply laughed. "Well maybe excluding you, but the battlemages have suffered as much as we had. It's natural to help our fellow oppressed ponies." Rimpler shrugged, hoping his causal demeanour would distract Eccentric from their real intentions of the mission; to divide the unicorns into elites and minor 'nobles'.

"...But to risk your lives..." Eccentric still wasn't fully convinced, as it made no sense that the earth ponies wouldn't just leave the battlemages to side with Amore's forces.

"Listen, we aren't the 'earth' pony Republic, we are the EQUESTRIAN Republic, meaning that everypony is welcome, and must be protected no matter the race," Rimpler explained, finally convincing Eccentric that their goal was 'reconciliation'.

"...What are you building?" Eccentric asked, trying to divert the topic as Rimpler seemed annoyed at his constant questioning and prodding of sensitive memories.

Rimpler smiled once more, "We're fixing and improving your walls first, and we're building ravelins to provide crossfire against frontal assaults." Rimpler pointed towards the foundations of their works, as the engineers had already begun laying the bricks. "We are also planning on building earthen ramparts outlining our fortifications to fully utilise our fortifications." Rimpler pointed towards the outskirts of the walls, where the Republican soldiers had begun digging and constructing bunkers and wooden palisades whilst they were idle.

"...Impressive..." Eccentric complimented, as the earth ponies had devoted to their works; their passive magic of manipulating earth coming to their advantage massively.

"What are you planning Essie?" Rimpler playfully nudged; having heard his generals referring to him as such, and realising how much it pissed him off.

'Essie' groaned tiredly at Rimpler's childishness, but remembered something which could give Rimpler the taste of his own medicine. "My battlemages have already begun conjuring traps on the nearby forests and earth; meaning they cannot hide nor utilise the wood for ladders or siegeworks as they would explode on my signal." Essie proudly announced, raising his chin in superiority. "If an assault is especially gruelling, we could detonate some charges on the surrounding earth to cut off an assault from reinforcements," Essie explained, waving a hoof at the surrounding plains and hills. "So just let me know 'Flank'." Essie grinned cheekily at Rimpler, as his first name was actually 'Flank'; Essie knew this as he had eavesdropped on a Republican general who made fun of Rimpler's first name to earn a few cheap laughs from his compatriots.

'Flank' glared dangerously at Essie, who grinned and closed his eyes in response.

"Marshal, we got a problem..." A general quietly approached; worry written all over his face.

"...What is it?" Rimpler asked whilst still glaring at Essie, not realising what was happening around him.

"Just... Look around..." The general pleaded, dropping the formality. Rimpler and Essie turned to look, and they became mortified by the scene.

A horde of Earth pony refugees had seemed to materialise from thin air, as they had begun entering the city, interfering with the frontal fortifications.

"The unicorns had left Canterlot for better safety, but our ponies are evacuating into it to avoid extortion from Mustafa's forces." The general explained, realising the irony.

"...How's our food situation?" Rimpler asked, despite knowing the answer and dreading it.

"The fleeing nobles took them all... We've got nothing..." Essie added, presuming Rimpler also knew their shortages.

"We were able to last 6 months, but now if we're lucky, a month tops." The general answered, drooping his head in defeat.

"A month's a stretch... A week is lucky..." Essie drooped his head as well, as the siege seemed impossible to sustain defensively.

"...We need to speak with Green..." Rimpler decided as he turned to face the engineer headquarters.

"Who's Green?" Essie confusedly asked,

"...Our leader..." Rimpler and the general answered simultaneously, as they began galloping towards the engineer head-camp, where Green was located.

"Your leader?! He's here?!" Essie gawked, as he quickly galloped alongside the two ponies. "Who's ruling whilst he's gone?! Why would he risk his life to defend our capital?! I've got some many que-! mfffff!" Essie was silenced by two clamping hooves from the general and Rimpler, as he was galloping between them.

"We'll tell you in time." Rimpler dismissed, loosening his hoof on Essie's mouth which prompted the general to follow. "Wait 'till he hears our leader brought his 9-year-old sister..."

Author's Note:

Duke Eccentric Lawlane - General and temporarily leader of the unicorns in Canterlot.

Marshal Flank Rimpler - Marshal of the Republican forces aiding Canterlot's defence.

I was going to include more in this chapter, but my brain is dying.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

And still, you did well

[Davenfjeld]

And lo, begins the siege of Canterlot.

May this be as Vienna, a victory hard won.

[Radical Centrist]

10884602
Damn. You guessed it

[Davenfjeld]

10884614
Ah shit.

I probably should have guessed this was a parallel to that entire conflict when the crystal empire first appeared.

[Carnifaxy]

For all the 'humans reborn as another creature in Equis' stories this one is definitely the one I find the most fascinating and I definitely applaud the foresight for Bismarck to just go 'I am not going to overextend and possibly ruin everything'.

[Radical Centrist]

10885187
That was his 'in-earth' policy too. It was called "Realpolitik", and it made sure Germany wouldn't overextend and risk war/collapse from internal or external threats. But Wilhelm II would throw all of that out the window with "Weltpolitik".

[fechlin]

I see you're taking more than a bit from EH and their series on the siege of Vienna, we may only hope the Equestrians fair better than the Austrians.

[Blueshadow_the_pony]

Will we be batting a charge of "Winged" Hussars!?! such a prospect will surely tempt me